private Rebuilding Equestria (1x1 between C. Thunder Dash and ExplosionMare)

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“What sort of risk are you talking about, Your Highness?” Global asked nervously.

She knew everything this group did today was risky but she had not expected something meant to heal to also cause hurt. She stood near Fluttershy protectively, letting her know she was there for her and that she would do what she could to prevent anything serious from occurring. If the amulet really was that dangerous, it was best to not go into using it alone.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"Tricky spirits. They could disguise themselves as good and pure, but in reality, they are some of the most evil spirits. Fortunately, the amulet will know and spontaneously perform a cleansing to rid the evil spirit." Celestia explained. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“Oh,” Global said, breathing a sigh of relief. “That’s good to know, Your Highness. Does that mean we can start using the amulet now?”

She couldn’t help but be a little anxious over the amulet. It felt like everypony was spending more time talking about it than figuring out how to use it. She understood that they probably had to go slow with the magic, but she also didn’t want to stand around and wait for things to happen when they could happen right now.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"There's no need to worry Global. Fluttershy, being the Element of Kindness and an expert on animals will be able to handle the amulet." Celestia said with a smile. The amulet lit up again as a spirit zipped towards its ashes. A squirrel was restored. It clicked. "Hello mister squirrel." Fluttershy said. The squirrel clicked again. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global felt calm just hearing the princess’ reassuring words. What was even better than her words was the squirrel spirit that dashed straight towards Fluttershy. The amulet restored it immediately, turning it back into a fuzzy, chittering being. Global smiled at the squirrel, happy both for him and for the fact that progress with the animals was being made.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

As the group continued to walk, the amulet glowed again. A spirit zipped into some ashes. Hissing was heard. A medium sized snake came out of log. It looked at Global, letting out a calm hiss. "Looks like that snake could use a friend. It's looking at you Global." Fluttershy said. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“Hey there,” Global said calmly to the snake. Most ponies were afraid of these reptiles, but she always thought they were cool. She was the kind of pony that would let a snake crawl on her shoulders so long as it didn’t bite.

She held a hoof out to the snake. The snake could either investigate it or climb over it, whatever it preferred to do. As she waited, she looked at him with friendly, almost excited eyes in order to encourage him. She wanted him to know that she was here for him and unafraid.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

The snake poked Global's hoof with its tongue to smell it. Snakes had weak nostrils, so tongue poking was the only way. The snake then slithered up Global's hoof and gently wrapped itself around her back, letting out a calm and peaceful hiss. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global’s nostrils scrunched as she held back the urge to laugh from the tickling sensation she felt when the snake poked her hoof with his tongue. When it slithered onto her back, she smiled at it in a friendly manner. Thankfully, unlike the ponies she’s had to carry, the snake had practically no weight to it at all. 

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"Looks like that snake is going to stick around for a while." Celestia said. The snake hissed softly with content. "He's really happy wrapped around you like that..." Fluttershy observed as she continued to walk with the group. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“I have a feeling he’s going to be around awhile, too,” Global commented, giving the snake a wink.

Not only was he very friendly, he may be able to help everypony on their journey. Global had a knack for discovering potential and she had no doubt that this snake had a lot of it. She did not know what that would entail, but she did know that this snake was going to be their ally and their friend.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

The snake hissed back at Global. It seemed as if there was a clearing up ahead. "Be careful. I remember this place. I travelled through it once with a couple of delagates from Saddle Arabia and they almost got swallowed up by the illusions in this place." Celestia warned. This was no ordinary clearing. As beautiful as it may seem, if one stared at it for too long, yellow eyes would start to appear, petrifying whoever looked at them. "No matter how beautiful it may seem, do not fix your gaze at anything...for yellow petrifying eyes lurk behind this illusion..." Celestia added.  

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global was taken aback when the snake hissed at her but upon Celestia’s explanation, she understood it was a warning. There was a rather mystical clearing ahead that could garner the attention of a thousand ponies if it wanted to. In order to heed the princess’ warning, Global shut her eyes to avoid being one of the thousand. After what happened with the shadow phantoms, she wasn’t willing to put herself at risk again.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"Here, get on." Celestia said as she stopped down so the group could ride on her back. Pinkie and Fluttershy let Global go first. Celestia looked down at the ground unaffected by the illusion. She waited for Global to get on. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“Y-yes, Your Highness!” Global exclaimed as she hopped on the princess’ back.

As weird as it was to sit on Celestia’s back, she had to admit that it was nice to get off her hooves for a while. She wasn’t used to walking long distances since she normally motorbiked her way across towns. Now that she was slightly more relaxed, she pushed her hoof through her hair and allowed herself to breath for a brief moment before she had to leap into action again.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

Celestia trotted through the illusion. Some yellow eyes broke out and tried to get Celestia to look at them. However, Celestia lit her horn and used her magic to fend them off. After sometime, they were out of the illusion...and actually on the other side of the Everfree. The land still looked in complete ruins however. "It is safe now." Celestia said. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“Phew, finally!” Global cheered.

She hopped off Celestia’s back now that they were away from danger. She looked behind her to make sure the snake was alright. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad that there was nothing to run from for now.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

The snake looked at Global and let out a soft and warm hiss. Celestia sighed, for they were approaching what was Apploosa. It was a nice little town but there was nothing left of it. It just look almost completely barren. “We must restore all the ponies of Apploosa before we could move on. The Buffalo also live around here too.” Celestia started. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global smiled as the snake signaled to her that he was doing okay. Her smile dissipated, however, when Celestia looked at Appleoosa with a solemn expression. Global couldn’t help but feel distraught as well; the place that was once bustling with small town activity and plenty of music and dancing was now as quiet as Canterlot was.

It was chilling to look at, but there was no time to let emotions get carried away. For now, it was important that the ponies and buffalo be located. Determinedly, Global trotted towards the town to do what she came here to do. She had to remind herself that no matter how grim things were, she had to remain level-headed and restore what she could.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

The sadness of the spirits who roamed Apploosa could be felt. The biggest things that needed to be done was to make sure that the ponies didn't blame the buffalo for this situation. In addition, the Apploosa Orchard had to be replanted as well.

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global felt a sorrow in the air that gave her chills. Along with the sorrow, she felt a bit of tension from some unknown conflict. She looked around to see where she could start fixing things but struggled to see potential ash locations from where she was standing. She did see, however, that all of the vibrant shrubbery that normally surrounded the town was missing. Global had a feeling that locating a few seeds might cheer some of the souls up, even if it was only for a short moment.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

At this point it would be almost impossible to locate seeds. The best thing to do was look for a Apploosan spirit. "Perhaps we should find sompony who knows where to find the seeds..." Celestia said. "Hmmm, I remember a male pony named Braeburn who lives here in Apploosa...I wonder where his spirit could be...?" Pinkie said going into a thinking pose. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

Global understood that finding the seeds would be difficult, but she was glad Pinkie knew of a pony who could find them. She was sure she had heard of the name Braeburn before and she was even more sure that she had encountered him once during her travels. That was so long ago though that her memories of him were foggy.

“I definitely know Braeburn, but it was years ago that I met him,” she confided. “All I know is that he used to give out tours to all the travelers. If he was doing that before everything happened, then he would probably be somewhere at the town’s entrance,”

Her guess was as good as anypony’s, but it was a start at least. Surely he couldn’t be too far away from town if he was practically the face of it.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

@ExplosionMare

"Uhm...maybe he could be where...the orchard...was..." Fluttershy supposed. "That's a really great observation Fluttershy. Let's go look there first. I do wish that Applejack was here, for she could be the main key to keeping Braeburn stable." Celestia stated. 

[Global Gleam]

@Courageous Thunder Dash

“Yeah, that would be great if she was here...Your Highness,” Global muttered.

At least the group seemed to have a lead now. Although the orchard they were heading towards had no trees or any sign of plant life, Global could sense where it was. The smell of dead wood was not too off from where they were headed. She followed the smell until it felt like it was right on top of her. It was a strange feeling compared to the last time she visited it when it smelled like sweet apples and dried leaves.