My Little Pony_Ponyville Mysteries_Peryton Panic Page 5

  Sweetie Belle couldn’t see the Timberwolves. But the growling and splintering of wood behind them painted a vivid picture of what was happening.

  “Anypony got any ideas?” Scootaloo asked nervously.

  “Sweetie Belle, you’re a Unicorn. Can’t you use magic to get us free?” Apple Bloom asked. Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure how to do that. But she powered up her horn anyway and tried to fight Auntie Eclipse’s spell. Her hoof moved a little, but that was all.

  “I can’t break the magic.” She panted from the effort. “Sorry.”

  “What about the peryton? Maybe it can help!” Scootaloo said. “Where is it?”

  Sweetie Belle had no idea. But she knew how to call it.

  “A rose has thorns to keep it safe,” Sweetie Belle sang loudly, “but ponies have not one. A wild rose blooms where it is placed, but ponies seek the sun.” The last time she’d used her song, she’d felt the peryton right away. This time, there was nothing…

  A bell chimed. But far off.

  “I heard that!” Apple Bloom yelled.

  “Hello!” Sweetie Belle called into the dark. “Smarty-hoof?”

  Another bell. But why did it sound so far?

  A very loud CRACK distracted her. Had a Timberwolf finally gotten out? The leaves on the trees around the Crusaders started blowing wildly, accompanied by the tinkling of more bells. Sweetie Belle knew it was the peryton, but why wasn’t it helping them?

  “Sweetie Belle, tell your friend we could use help, like, now!” Scootaloo was panicking. Desperate, Sweetie Belle tried her horn again. She scrunched up her face and put everything she had into it. Her horn sparked… and suddenly she was free!

  “I can move!” Sweetie Belle announced. “Maybe as Auntie Eclipse got farther away, her spell got weaker?”

  “How ’bout we figure out the details later? Get us free, please!” Apple Bloom’s voice was desperate. Sweetie Belle turned to help them—

  And saw two large Timberwolves crawling out of a ragged hole in the Livewood. It was too late. She couldn’t get both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo free. But she wasn’t going to leave her friends behind. The Timberwolves jostled each other, trying to squeeze through the hole at the same time. Sweetie Belle’s mind raced. What was different about the Livewood that was letting the Timberwolves break free now? Sweetie Belle thought back to Luna’s story. The Princess sisters had grown the Livewood and created the Timberwolves, and then the peryton wrapped the Livewood in shadow.…

  Shadow!

  Sweetie Belle knew what she had to do. She ran past her two best friends, who called after her, confused. One of the Timberwolves tore free from the gaping hole and leaped toward Sweetie Belle. But she focused on what was in front of her: the giant flower. The light was so bright, Sweetie Belle had to close her eyes. She reached out with both hooves and pulled on the flower’s stem. Hard. The light sputtered. She could hear growling and smelled the Timberwolf’s putrid breath behind her. With a mighty tug, she ripped the flower out of the ground.

  The entire forest was thrown into complete darkness.

  Sweetie Belle heard what sounded like hundreds and hundreds of bells clanging and chiming and ringing throughout the Forest. She heard the rush of wings, and her friends calling her name, and the Timberwolf’s yelp. She opened her eyes, but the Forest was just as dark as if she had kept them closed. The bells continued for what seemed like forever to a scared little filly, but finally the Forest was quiet.

  “Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom called.

  “Over here!” she responded. She lit her horn so they could see her. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed to her side and hugged her. Sweetie Belle looked up and saw two glowing white eyes staring down at them. “Thanks, Smarty-hoof,” she said. The peryton nodded its head toward her. Sweetie Belle turned and looked at the Livewood. It was wrapped in shadow once again, the Timberwolves trapped inside. She let out a long, relieved sigh.

  “How’d you know the flower was keeping the peryton away?” Scootaloo asked.

  “Luna called it a creature of shadow. It can’t appear in the light. I think Lilymoon and Ambermoon’s family planted that solar flower to weaken the Livewood and force the peryton away. That’s probably when it went and got Princess Luna in the first place.” The bells chiming around them sounded like agreement to Sweetie Belle.

  “Sweetie Belle, I think you may have faced off against more Timberwolves than anypony ever,” Apple Bloom said in awe. Shuddering, Sweetie Belle hoped this was the last time.

  “So now what?” Scootaloo asked. And for the first time since she’d seen the peryton, Sweetie Belle knew the answer.

  “We have to stop the Moon family from stealing the Helm,” she said grimly. “We need to talk to our sisters and their friends right away. I don’t know exactly what Auntie Eclipse is planning, and I don’t know if Lilymoon and Ambermoon are involved. But we’ll need all the help we can get.”

  “Yeah! Nopony wants another Nightmare Moon on our hooves,” Scootaloo said. The peryton snorted in agreement. Sweetie Belle saw a glimmer of light sneaking over the tree line. It was going to be morning soon. Their sisters would be furious, but Sweetie Belle wasn’t worried. The Crusaders weren’t just little fillies anymore. They were the Defenders of the Livewood.

  “Let’s go home,” Sweetie Belle said to the others. “We’ve got a job to do.”

  As Princess Celestia finished raising the sun, Princess Luna joined her on the castle balcony. They both looked out over the land they ruled together as sisters.

  “I still don’t know about this,” Celestia said to her sister, concern in her voice. “They are so young.”

  “It is not our choice to make. Forces more powerful than you or I have decided this is their burden to bear.” Luna tilted her head. “Perhaps it is their youth that will be their strength.”

  “How so?” Celestia asked.

  “The Helm sings to the darker parts of a pony’s nature,” Luna said. “Perhaps in their innocence, they have yet to face those darker emotions.”

  But Luna’s words did little to comfort her sister. If anything, Celestia looked more worried than before. “Let us hope this doesn’t introduce them to their darker natures. I would never be able to forgive us if we sent them down the path it took so long to rescue you from.”

  Luna had no response to that. She simply nodded. The sisters stood together, silently watching morning spread across Equestria, troubled about what the days to come would bring.

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