Two hours. That's how long the Crusaders spent in the Everfree Forest, going down countless paths and getting nowhere near the actual entrance they had set Scootaloo's scooter near. Eventually they found the entrance, though Sweetie was unsure of how they found it when they had been deep in the forest and had lost their original path. She had been pretty sure that they had been somewhere near the Ruined Castle, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna once lived a thousand years ago. It was also where her sister Rarity and her friends had found the Elements of Harmony and defeated Nightmare Moon.

Just thinking of her sister made Sweetie realize that she was likely going to be late for dinner, which would irritate Rarity to no end and cause her to ask where she had been.

"So girls," Scootaloo said, strapping her helmet back on and throwing her gear in the last wagon, "who want's to go home?"

"I do," Apple Bloom replied, sighing after the long walk they had just gone through, "We didn't get any closer to getting our Cutie Marks and we were almost eaten by Diamond Dogs. I just want to go home, have some dinner, and go to sleep so I can start working on the farm tomorrow morning."

"What about you Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked, tapping her hoof as the two climbed into the wagon they rode in, "Where do you want me to drop you off?"

"Twilight's library," Sweetie replied, "Someone needs to tell Twilight about the alicorn we saw and, seeing how you both want to go straight home, I figured that I'd be the one to do that. She needs to know that the stallion's in the forest, not that he seems like somepony whose going to burn the forest down."

"Whatever," Scootaloo said, getting underway and heading back to Ponyville, "that's not as fun as hanging out with Rainbow Dash."

Sweetie Belle sighed; Scootaloo was obsessed with Rainbow Dash and mentioned her almost all the time, which was starting to drive Apple Bloom and Sweetie a little insane. Everypony knew that Twilight's tree house had been destroyed shortly after Tirek's escape and a new castle built near the edge of town, but Twilight had gone out of her way to rebuild a library for the ponies of Ponyville. She had put a lot of time, effort, and bits into reconstructing every rare book from memory, choosing to simply buy new copies of the common books. The library was basically the same as it had been before it had been destroyed, though Twilight wasn't living in it and visited it every so often to make sure it was run correctly.

Sweetie only chose the library because she knew that Twilight visited it on Saturday and would be there until at least eight o'clock, though sometimes she'd be there till midnight. She knew these times thanks to her sister telling her the various visits she made to make sure that Twilight was getting enough food and sleep.

Scootaloo, being true to her nature, rode her scooter fast and started performing tricks, risking their well being as the sun gave way to night at long last. One trick involved her soaring through the air, with the others and their gear behind her, for a few moments before hitting the ground and circling around Rarity's boutique. Sweetie was sure that Rarity heard the scooter as they passed by the shop, but they were long gone before the front door was even opened an inch. Sweetie knew that she was in deep trouble when Rarity found out that she and her friends had gone into the Everfree Forest, without telling anyone.

"Okay, here we are," Scootaloo said, stopping in front of the new library and lifting a hoof towards it, "Twilight's library. I hope you have fun...reading books and whatever else you two do."

"I'll see you guys whenever my sister lets me again," Sweetie said, stepping off the wagon and putting her helmet back in place, "I'll just head in, tell Twilight about the alicorn, and then head home so I can get chewed out by my sister."

"Have fun Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom told her friend, just as Scootaloo started down the road again, "Scootaloo! Slow down before you break something!"

Sweetie sighed and moved towards the wooden door, wondering if Twilight was going to believe her when she told her that there was another alicorn sleeping in the Everfree Forest. Twilight seemed to not believe most of the things that the Crusaders told her, but there was always the chance that telling her about a mysterious alicorn. Before her nerves got the better of her she raised her hoof and knocked on the door, hearing something hit the ground before hooves followed it. Not a moment later the door opened to reveal a lavender pony standing on the other side, though Sweetie knew it was Twilight Sparkle within seconds.

"Sweetie Belle? What are you doing here at this time of night?" Twilight asked, her magic turning on and dragging the filly inside, "Does Rarity know that your all alone, walking the streets of Ponyville without someone to protect you? What if someone decided to attack you? No one would have known what happened to you until morning came..."

"Twilight, there's an alicorn in the Everfree Forest!" Sweetie exclaimed, feeling the magic release her and allowed her to stand back up.

"Excuse me? Is that where you were?" Twilight said, a look of pure shock on her face, "Rarity stopped by earlier this afternoon and said that you guys were planning on doing something stupid, but we should have known you'd choose to go back to the Everfree Forest. I have told you repeatedly that the forest is a dangerous place for fillies, yet you intentionally go back there and search for your Cutie Marks once more. You guys are lucky you didn't run into any monsters while you were there."

"Didn't you hear me Twilight?" Sweetie asked, knowing that Twilight was more focused on where she had been and not what she had seen, "We were crusading in the Everfree Forest, I won't deny that, but we ran into a group of Diamond Dogs..."

"You ran into Diamond Dogs?!" Twilight exclaimed, not even letting her finish this time, "Sweetie Belle, you know those dogs can be dangerous and downright unpredictable. You guys are lucky that they didn't capture you, as it is well known that they eat any ponies that they are lucky enough to capture."

"Twilight," Sweetie tried yet again, wondering why she was trying so hard, "we ended up running away from the Diamond Dogs, but then we came to this clearing and found a stand alone cloud resting near the ground. Sitting on that cloud was what we assumed was just a pegasus, but when we hid under his cloud he complained about us ruining his sleep and climbed off his cloud. Then we discovered that he was an alicorn with a flaming mane and tail and some sort of burning stick in his mouth. I don't know what he did next, but he somehow managed to chase the Diamond Dogs away without moving a muscle."

Twilight stood there for a few moments, staring at Sweetie as if she was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or had created an elaborate lie to cover the fact that she and her friends had visited the Everfree Forest. It was clear by the look on her face that she wasn't believing anything Sweetie was saying, which was what Sweetie had been expecting.

"So you think there's an alicorn, an alicorn stallion mind you, that's living in the Everfree Forest?" Twilight asked, shaking her head before moving to the bookshelves, "Let me tell you what's wrong with that statement; there are only four alicorns in all of Equestria, all of which are mares. You've got Princess Celestia, who controls the Sun, and her sister Princess Luna, who controls the Moon. Then you've got Princess Cadence, whose a master at love and matchmaking ponies to their true loves. And lastly there's me, the Princess of Friendship. There aren't any alicorn stallions in all of recorded history."

"We still saw him though," Sweetie argued, still wondering why she was trying to prove her point to Twilight, "so I know that it wasn't the heat of the moment that made all three of us see the same thing."

"Sweetie Belle, I don't know how many times I can tell you this," Twilight sighed, her eyes rolling over titles as her magic brought her books before sending them back, "there are no alicorn stallions. The best explanation I can come up with is that, in a moment of extreme stress, such as being chased by Diamond Dogs, your mind and imagination created something to save you from harm. While it may not have actually done anything to save you the Diamond Dogs must have decided to leave you alone so they didn't incur the wrath of Ponyville for foalknapping you."

"Are you saying that the stallion was just a piece of my imagination?" Sweetie asked, glaring at the back of Twilight's head, "But Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I saw him climb off his cloud, pull some burning stick out of his mouth, and then blow a puff of smoke out before driving off four Diamond Dogs. I'm sorry, but I don't think we could have come up with the same vision at the same time."

Twilight cancelled her magic and all the books hit the floor, causing Sweetie to look at her and wonder if she had pressed the situation too far. Twilight moved to the open window and was gone in a flash, leaving Sweetie to wander over to the pile of books that she had left behind and try to put them back where they belonged. Before she could even pick up the first book there was another flash behind her, causing her to look back and find Rarity looming over her.

"Um..." Sweetie began, wondering how she was going to worm her way out of the lecture that was coming.

"Sweetie Belle, Twilight tells me that you and your friends went into the Everfree Forest...again." Rarity said, staring her little sister straight in the eyes, "Care to tell me exactly why you decided to return to that forest? And please, don't tell me its because me and my friends do it all the time."

"Umm...Cutie Mark Crusaders Monster Hunters," Sweetie answered, "Scootaloo wanted to hunt monsters in the Everfree Forest, so we went along and tried it again. But Rarity, we found an alicorn stallion in the middle of the forest. He saved us from the Diamond Dogs that were chasing us so they could capture and eat us."

"And Sweetie Belle, Twilight has told you that alicorn stallions don't exist yet," Rarity said, shaking her head before grabbing her sister's tail with magic, "Now then, we're heading home to discuss the punishment you'll be receiving for heading into the Everfree Forest with your friends without letting any of us know. Maybe I'll ground you for a week and make you focus more on your schoolwork, instead of concerning yourself with finding your talent ahead of time."

"You know she just imagined the alicorn right?" Twilight asked, just making sure that Rarity understood what she had tried to explain in the brief time she had spent at the boutique.

"And does it look like I care?" Rarity replied, dropping her sister gently onto her back before turning to the front door, "Thanks for telling me where Sweetie Belle was Twilight, I was getting worried sick about her well being. I might just owe you one this time, for helping me find her of course."

Twilight just stood there as Rarity left the library, carrying her younger sister along as they headed back to the boutique, where she knew that Sweetie was going to get the full lecture. The only thing that she had to do that night, besides fixing the book mess that she had created before teleporting to Rarity's place, was head to the Sweet Apple Acres and tell Applejack what her sister had done with her friends. No doubt that Apple Bloom would be grounded from crusading for a while like Sweetie Belle was, though Twilight had no idea how to find who cared for Scootaloo.

Before she closed the door she listened to Sweetie Belle complain, still spouting that she and her friends had seen an alicorn stallion in the Everfree Forest and was standing by her story no matter what she was told. It made Twilight chuckle before she gently closed the door, knowing she'd have to spend some time teaching Sweetie about her fellow alicorns. She knew that, whenever that day came, it was going to be a fun day for her.

"Hmm...Rarity owing me one for once..." Twilight muttered, turning her attention to the pile of books and picking several of them up, "Maybe she won't mind helping out with some of my research one day."