//------------------------------// // Chapter 9. The heart of the forest // Story: Final Corruption // by Epsilon-Delta //------------------------------// Because of her job, Twilight never managed to get to one of these parties on time, but she still never felt like she was missing out on anything important. The party always began with a huge feast set out by Rarity for anypony who showed up and a lot of ponies did show up just for the food. But the ones who only came for the food were total daywalkers that Twilight had zero interest in talking to. Twilight arrived near the end of dinner and joined the others halfway up the stairs, where the couch under the window that led to the Everfree Forest was. The three of them never ate anything at this point either, but watched from up here, wanting to be mysterious. That was what Twilight did now, too. It was getting close to the end of the meal and ponies were only just now coming up the stairs to either challenge Rarity about something or get her attention. Only more recently, like now, they were challenging Twilight as well. Twilight’s ears were pierced in three places now, just like the rest of the gang, and tonight all four of them were wearing matching sets of skull earrings and necklaces with a little fang at the end of it. Almost every day she wore some sort of choker and boots, often with fishnet or stripped stockings underneath them. She wore makeup more often now too, tonight having thick black eyeshadow on only her right eye and a little teardrop painted just under it. But still, it was Twilight’s mane that overshadowed all of it. Nopony even commented on her punkish outfits compared to that. “Why should anypony have the right to make my Twilight style her mane in a way she doesn’t like?” Asked Rarity. “Taking away her ability to express herself is cruel, isn’t it? It robs us of something that makes us ponies. I wonder what you think is worth it.” “But it sows disharmony, right?” Raindrops was the pony complaining today. “Canterlot says that if ponies can just style their manes however they want- “ “Please.” Twilight blew some hair out of her face. “Do you actually think there’s any correlation between bucking haircuts and crime rates? Or anything bad for that matter. Because I’ll tell you right now there bucking there isn’t. None of these bans has ever made a noticeable drop in anything bad. Crime and poverty just keep going up as society collapses and this crap is just a bunch of distractions to keep us from ever focusing on anything that might help. All of it’s a lie.” “That’s just what you say. I’d trust what Canterlot says over you.” “Okay. Raise your hoof if you ever bothered fact-checking any of this stuff yourself?” Twilight asked. Both her and Rarity raised their hooves, but it was them alone. “What a bucking coincidence!” Twilight put her hoof back down. “Everypony who looks this stuff up for themselves agrees with us.” “I think the real question,” Rarity leaned down towards Raindrops and whispered, “is why are you scared to check this yourself. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about it. Do you secretly know I’m right? Is that why you’re scared?” “I’m not scared!” Raindrops backed up a step. “I just don’t have time.” Twilight knew for a fact that Raindrops did have time. She’d lost her job not long ago, which was the reason she came back here every time Rarity was handing out free food. “Oh, I think you are scared.” Rarity gave a sweet smile to Raindrops, then to Twilight. “Twilight. You’re smart! Why do you think she’s scared?” “Society has all kinds of mechanisms in place to make you scared and ashamed of thinking outside the box. If you want, I can tell you all about their psychological manipulation techniques. I got a book about it.” “You know!” Raindrops struggled for something good to say, but in the end, just pointed her hoof accusingly at Twilight. “You’re just like Starburst the no-good know-it-all!” “Oh, yeah." Twilight rolled her eyes. "The fictional character they specifically created to try and demonize and discredit anypony with a brain without actually addressing any arguments is the one you compare me to. Almost like you swallowed their propaganda without chewing. Hey. Another thing I looked up! Did you know that they never actually paid the actress who played Starburst? She ended up homeless cause they screwed out of her contract. But what? You think you’re the one pony that’s not gonna get screwed by the system? You think you're not getting screwed right now?” “Yeah, well-!” Raindrops stammered in frustration. “That’s exactly what Starburst would say!” “Oh, yes.” Rarity snickered. “I remember that one where Starburst declares herself to be nothing but a propaganda strawpony and then explodes." Twilight and Rarity laughed while Raindrops blushed and walked away, defeated. “You know, I like having you on my side, where belong." Rarity grabbed Twilight in a hug and nuzzled the back of her neck. "I think I did a good job teaching you. Watching you spread my corrupting ideas to these daywalkers is so satisfying to me.” Twilight liked it too. Twilight felt… strong. Twilight could walk around town as a total delinquent and, because Rarity always paid the fines for her, there was nothing anypony could do about it. She’d practiced debating and messing with ponies’ heads so much with Rarity that when somepony did try to say something, tried to shame her, it was more and more often them that had to walk away embarrassed. And if Rarity was around then Twilight was simply invincible, untouchable. Sure, it all gave Twilight a bad reputation. Everypony around town knew her as ‘that spikey-haired punk’. But it was worth it. For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel powerless. She felt like she was in control of something. She didn’t care about their approval anyway. The approval of one of her friends was worth that of a million daywalkers. “But I think you still need to dial it down another ten percent." Rarity twisted her hoof. "If you push ponies too hard they simply fall over. I think restraint is the next thing you need to learn if you're going to convert anypony else over to my way of thinking." "I already dialed it down ten percent like two times," Twilight complained. "I stopped exploding on random daywalkers, at least. And I feel like I have the right to be angry over here." "It's perfectly normal to go through an angry phase when you change your worldview like this," said Rarity. "I've seen it plenty of times. But I do know how to get somepony to adopt my way of thinking. I seem to have done a good job with you." “Okay.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “You were right about some things.” “Oh, psh. Listen to yourself.” Rarity put her hoof on Twilight’s muzzle and pushed her away mid-nuzzle. “I can’t be happy unless you agree with all my opinions. Say I’m right about everything.” “Nopony is right about everything, Rarity.” “Oh really?” Rarity lifted her chin just a little. “Then prove it. Name one thing you still think I’m wrong about and I’ll fix it. We can have another argument just like the good old days.” Twilight did try to think of something. She’d already given up on cursing, movies, banned books, dress codes, the academy, Celestia, rock music, candy, the economy, what ‘good art’ was, the virtue of authority and tradition. All her faith in society was shattered. “Well?” Rarity winked. “You know what it means if you can’t think of anything, right? You’ll have to go around telling everypony that you think I’m right about everything. In fact, why don’t you stand up and make an announcement to everypony about it?” Occasionally, something like that would make Twilight see how much she’d changed since coming to Ponyville. Already she dressed, acted, thought, and talked like her new friends. And now she was struggling to think of a single thing she disagreed with Rarity on. But there was one final thing Twilight was holding out on, one last bit of her old morality that remained. The forest was still just beyond the window that hung above her and Twilight still refused to follow them that far. And there was an important question Twilight needed to ask tonight. But that wasn’t something you even talked about in front of daywalkers. “After the party.” Twilight sat back upright. “Oh, I think I know what this is,” said Rarity. “I’m looking forward to it. Let’s see who else we can play with for now.” Rarity turned instead to see what ponies had dared to wander up the stairs to her and settled on a mare Twilight didn’t know the name of. She beckoned her to sit on the empty seat of the couch and when the mare did, she whispered something in the other mare’s ear twitch before she pulled back in shock. Then Rarity went to work, asking curveball questions and planting seeds of doubt in the system. Twilight usually joined her, enjoyed doing playing this game alongside Rarity. But right now Twilight felt a little too apprehensive to join in. She just sat there and watched Rarity talk to this other mare about politics or whatever. And suddenly Twilight felt a little jealous. Twilight didn’t understand her emotions anymore, all the words she used to impose on them were dead now. Watching Rarity kissing Pinkie or Dash didn’t make Twilight feel jealous at all. But when Rarity got into long arguments with another mare, tried to corrupt them, when Twilight wasn’t tag-teaming them with her - Twilight felt like having her mind corrupted by Rarity was her thing and nopony else had the right to it. But she knew all these other ponies would be gone in a few hours and that she’d still be here. The mare she was talking to already excused herself and went off to look for less dangerous ponies. At least, that’s what she told herself. “Hey, Rarity!” Twilight leaned over so Rarity would look at her again. “Hm?” “If Raindrops or somepony else stayed last and they won blind faith like I did, they wouldn’t like-“Twilight wasn’t sure how to phrase it. Twilight technically wasn’t in the gang yet. “You wouldn't start bringing them into the gang, would you?" “Raindrops? Hardly! I think I need to think up a new game anyway. I heard school fillies are starting to play blind faith, only they walk towards a sandbox or something instead of the forest, which completely defeats the purpose.” Rarity flicked her mane and lifted her head. “But even if they did pass some test, that'd hardly be enough for me. I'm very picky about who I let be my friend. I must have gone through a thousand ponies and none of them were remotely as good as you." Twilight liked that answer a lot and nodded eagerly in agreement. “There’s very few ponies who are actually smart enough to think for themselves and brave enough to follow me into the dark." Rarity looked down at the crowd, unimpressed, before turning back to Twilight and looking her deep in the eyes. "And the number that are also good looking with a cute personality that I find myself attracted to is so low I’m surprised I even found you.” “Yeah! Exactly!” “Also, no colts are allowed to join. They’re too messy and I don’t want one in my house for more than a few hours.” Rarity looked over her immaculately clean hoof. “Also I'd rather my friend be attracted to me at least a little, so they'd have to be a lesbian." “Ugh.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “This again? Rarity, not even you can just argue me into being gay. That’s not how it works.” “Aw. But don’t you wish I could make you gay?” Rarity rubbed her muzzle against Twilight’s. “We could be such better friends and have so much more fun if you were.” And yeah, that got Twilight flustered, but that hardly counted. Rarity could do this to anypony. “But if that’s the case why don’t you tell me which stallion you think is the cutest?” Rarity looked back into the crowd. “I’ve brought so many over here at least one of them has to be your type, right?” “Well-“ Twilight struggled to remember one who was attracted to but she draw a blank. But she also knew that if she didn’t name one, Rarity would decide that meant Twilight was gay. So she just blurted out the first name that came to mind. “Thunderlane. He’s tall! I think tall ponies are hot. And stuff.” “I’m taller than you too.” Rarity moved her hoof from her own forehead to just over Twilight’s. “Do you think I’m hot?” Twilight shuffled in place, slightly flustered. Rarity's teasing always got to her so fast. "Well-" Twilight blushed and made the mistake of looking into Rarity's eyes again. She always felt such an all-consuming urge to be closer to Rarity in every way. "You're better looking than Thunderlane. You have the best eyes in the world, in my opinion, but-" “Well how about this?" Rarity looked out into the crowd. "I can make any stallion you pick do anything you want him to for you. You really are a lot more attractive than when I first met you, it'd be easy. Or you can just give up on all these little colts and I'll let you give my hoof a little kiss instead." And Rarity held her hoof out to Twilight as if offering it now. Twilight turned her eyes to peer at it. Now that she was completely used to hugging, kissing seemed like a small step further. The three of them all kissed each other and Twilight did want some excuse to try it herself. But not till all the daywalkers were gone. Really the choice wasn't difficult for her at all. "I'll take your hoof." Twilight was blushing too heavily to look Rarity in the eyes right now. "You answered that fast!" Rarity giggled and gave Twilight a quick nuzzle. "You're so much fun to have around!" Now Twilight had a lot to look forward to after the party. The party slowly died down over the next few hours. They didn’t always get a ‘last pony left’ as a lot of times a bunch would leave as a group. These parties had a bit of a reputation by now that ponies knew you didn’t want to be the last one there lest you find out what rumors were true. It weeded out all but the curious, the brave, and the distracted. The last pony left was Cloud Chaser, sitting on one of the couches on the first floor, distracted with talking to Rainbow Dash about something. Twilight wasn’t surprised by that too much. Cloud Chaser was one of the newer and less lame ponies in town. But they waited till midnight to start the last game of the night. “It’s midnight!” Pinkie called out. “You know what that means!” Cloud Chaser clearly didn’t. She looked around and quickly got to that awkward moment when she realized she was the only one left. “Does that mean something?” Cloud Chaser asked Rainbow Dash. Rarity flicked her eyes in Cloud Chaser’s direction. That was one of her little ques. It meant that she wanted to ‘play vampire’. And she wanted Twilight to play with them this time! Rarity forbid Twilight from playing for ‘their team’ when they got like that, telling her she needed more practice to not screw the whole thing up. Until now, Twilight would just awkwardly stand behind Rarity while they did this, saying nothing. But now Twilight knew all of the Rarity’s little ques and was more used to talking to other ponies. She knew she could do this. Cloud Chaser looked up at Rarity and Twilight. Twilight looked down at Cloud Chaser and pretended to whisper something to Rarity, while Rarity did her best to look supremely bored. Then she laughed at something Twilight didn’t actually say and got up. Twilight ran down the stairs and sat, waiting at the bottom while Rarity leisurely strolled down them after her. “You know, not many ponies stay out until midnight,” Rarity said as she slowly walked down the stairs. “Looks like you were the only one who did tonight. They say this is the witching hour, that it’s bad luck to be awake at this time. You must be brave.” “Heh. Am I the only one left?” Cloud Chaser looked around to make sure. “I guess I didn’t notice. Maybe I should go.” It used to be the case that at this point the daywalker would point out that Twilight was still here too, but the last couple of times they didn’t feel like that was worth mentioning. That little detail was enough to make Twilight excited. It was like even strangers were starting to get the sense that she simply belonged here. Twilight couldn’t help but smile wide. As always, Cloud Chaser turned to leave, but Rainbow Dash swooped in at the last moment to block the door. Cloud Chaser ruffled her feathers and turned back to Rarity, unamused. Twilight had seen this all play out enough times to begin to notice trends, like how airheads always responded far more aggressively to Dash blocking their way. “What’s going on here?” Cloud Chaser asked. “Sorry, sorry.” Rarity winked and smiled. “Scaring you right after calling you brave. Of course, you can leave if you want. But midnight is when we have our real fun if you’d care to stay a bit longer.” Cloud Chaser looked back to see Dash get out of the way and lowered her wings. “I dunno.” Cloud Chaser gave Rarity a skeptical look. “What exactly are you gonna do at midnight?” “Oh!” Pinkie jumped up on the table next to Cloud Chaser. “There’s lots of things you can only do at midnight!” “I wonder if you ever heard why midnight is considered such bad luck in the first place?” Rarity asked. Now it was Twilight’s turn. Twilight began slowly walking around Cloud Chaser in a circle. She practiced this, staying just close enough that Cloud Chaser couldn’t easily turn around. “Ten thousand years ago at the end of the age of fire,” Twilight recited her story as she circled, “just after Celestia created ponies and the sun, there was still chaos magic that her sun hadn’t burned away yet. When the sun went down, the chaos magic would come bubbling up from beneath the ground. Midnight was the hour when there was enough to cast spells, but not enough to overwhelm any bonehead who tried to use it. You see, the real old boneheads could use chaos magic for necromancy. But you need more than chaos magic for necromancy. You need a life to sacrifice. So they’d some young virgin to use for their games.” “You kinda look like a virgin.” Dash landed on the side that was opposite of Twilight, just as Twilight stopped circling, so Cloud Chaser was surrounded on either end. “How scary,” said Rarity. “Some ponies say there are still necromancers out there, somewhere in the forest. Isn’t that right, Twilight?” “Yeah! Though I can’t remember who told me that.” Twilight held her little bone necklace with one hoof and smiled at Cloud Chaser. Pinkie jumped up onto the table next to Cloud Chaser and hissed at her, sending the on-edge pegasus staggering back. Everypony else laughed. “Don’t worry so much!” Rarity waved her hoof dismissively. “That’s just silly superstition.” “Yeah,” said Twilight. “All nonsense. I promise! But we do have our own games we like to play.” “Yes.” Rarity trotted towards Cloud Chaser, the others getting out of her way to make room. “It’s a good time for scary games. Have you ever heard of one called blind faith?” “You gotta be brave to play it.” Dash landed on the other side of Cloud Chaser. “But even then,” said Twilight, “nopony’s ever won it. How many ponies have you played it with again?” “I think about a hundred,” said Dash. “I won’t blame you if you wanna chicken out of it.” “Hey, don’t call me chicken,” said Cloud Chaser. “I don’t even know what game you’re talking about. How do you play, exactly?” “Come on outside.” Dash moved to the back door. “I’ll show you.” “I’ll see you later.” Rarity made a shooing motion with her hoof. “Probably.” “You’re not coming?” She asked. “No. Twilight and I have to-“ Rarity and Twilight locked eyes. “Well there’s something we have to do before the witching hour is over.” Rarity and Twilight walked back up the stairs to the sofa while the others lead Cloud Chaser away. Twilight smiled wide, she pulled it off perfectly. This game was a lot of fun! Rarity turned the lights way down, enough for the two of them to take their sunglasses off and look outside properly. The window that hung above the sofa provided a perfect view of the game down below. Twilight watched in comfort as Rainbow Dash prowled around Cloud Chaser, saying something that made the other pegasus shudder. “I wonder what she thinks we’re doing in here?” Twilight asked. “We do have business." Rarity held up her left hoof to Twilight. “You owe my hoof a kiss.” Twilight had watched Rarity kissing the others plenty of times. And strangely Twilight didn’t feel jealous of it too much. More like, left out. She did want to try it too. So maybe Twilight occasionally imagined herself making out with Rarity, but it wasn’t a gay thing or anything like that. She just wanted to make out in a purely friendly way. Like how Pinkie did it! It was just that it was wrong that excited Twilight, that and wanting to be closer to Rarity. So Twilight took her hoof. Rarity’s smile was absolutely giddy as she realized Twilight was going to do it. Twilight pressed her lips against the hoof and held it there, probably too long, long enough for Rarity to start giggling. Twilight pulled back and turned away fast, her heart beating like she’d just run a mile. She could feel her face burning. She couldn’t believe she actually kissed Rarity! Did that count as her first kiss?! She tried to cover up her blush by grabbing one of the pillows but doubted it worked. “Aw, that’s cute,” Rarity cooed. “But you kissed the wrong hoof. Try again.” “What? But you- which-“ “I’ll let you know when you get it right.” Rarity held her right hoof out to Twilight, giving it a demanding flick. Twilight knew for a fact that it would just happen to be whichever one she guessed last. Rarity was getting far too much pleasure out of how flustered this was making Twilight. Maybe Twilight was getting too much pleasure out of this too. Some invisible attraction pulled Twilight back to Rarity and Twilight grabbed Rarity's right. She gave that one a soft kiss, thinking she'd done much better this time, not shaking so much and not lingering too long. Rarity was looking pleased with this kiss. "Maybe try a little higher?" Rarity suggested. "I'll let you kiss my back hooves in a moment, but I want to see something first." Twilight took Rarity's advice and kissed her wrist. Rarity flicked her muzzle up, suggesting that this wasn't high enough, and reached out her foreleg for Twilight. Her mind was completely overrun by emotion now. She wanted more than anything in the world for Rarity to keep telling her to go higher until she reached Rarity's lips. Silently, Twilight decided that she'd try to do just that and see how far she'd go before Rarity stopped her. She gave one more kiss to Rarity's leg and then- A scream came from outside, Cloud Chaser, far louder than ponies normally screamed at this game. It was enough to make the already on-edge Twilight flail and fall off the couch. “Rude.” Rarity let out a huff of air and looked towards the window. “That was fast.” Twilight moved back to the window and looked down, just in time to see Pinkie chasing after Cloud Chaser as she ran off, Dash laughing behind them. Dash flew up to the window, opened it, and landed on its ledge. “Guess that party’s over,” said Dash. “I would have liked it to last another five minutes.” Rarity pouted up at Dash. “Twilight and I were having a very interesting conversation about how incredibly fragile heterosexuality is." “Oh?” Dash leaned down towards Rarity. “And how am I supposed to know what you’re thinking in some other room?” “Well if you really loved me you would just know.” Dash blew some air in Rarity’s face. Rarity returned the favor by grabbing Dash with her magic throwing her face-first into the couch cushion between her and Twilight. “Hmph!” Rarity put her hoof on the back of Dash’s head. “You’re sleeping here tonight! Twilight! Do you want to take her place in my bed tonight? I'd love to finish explaining how straightness is such a fleeting little thing that melts away like snow if you aren't dreadfully careful with it.” “Guh!” Twilight felt like she’d barely survived kissing Rarity’s hoof! “I- I don't know if I'm ready for something like that!" “Oh? But you sleep with Pinkie now.” Rarity pouted. "You were in her bed last night." “That’s different!” “Oh really? And just how would it be different?" “Pinkie’s-! I'm not sure if there's a word for it, but she's asexual or something. She doesn't see that as anything but being friendly!" “Really! So you're saying it'd be sexual if we slept in the same bed? I wonder why you'd think that." "Rarity!" Twilight was getting worked up yet again. "Okay, maybe I'm a little gay, but- I'm not ready for something like that!" “That’s fine.” Rarity gave a sly smile. “I like taking my time. And I like how cute you’re being.” Twilight took a few deep breathes, Rarity finally letting up on her teasing while Dash got up and brushed herself off. Calming down was necessary if Twilight was going to go through with her important question tonight. It'd been over a week since Pinkie promised to talk to Rarity about Twilight getting an 'invitation'. Tonight was the night Twilight was going to confront them about this and potentially the vampire thing. “So you want me to take you home?” Dash offered. “Or are you staying here tonight?” “Um. Actually! There’s something I wanted to ask you two about.” Twilight looked down at the ground for a moment, then back at Rarity. This was it! “How exactly do I get an invitation to join the gang? Like for real! I think I’m ready.” Rarity smiled wider, but Dash lowered her head and looked Twilight over suspiciously. “Aw! I think our little Twily is all grown up,” said Rarity. “I feel like just yesterday she was scolding us for cursing and now she wants to join a gang.” Rarity turned to Dash. “You know, Dashie, I bet we could get her to do anything!” “Ah, crap.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “You’re not gonna haze me or some crap like that, are you?” “Nah!” Dash’s expression suddenly lightened. “We hate that kind of crap! But I don't think you're ready yet, Sparks." “But what am I still missing?” If her conversation with Pinkie meant anything, there was one thing Twilight could say to change their minds. “I-I’d be willing to turn into a vampire if that’s the only way to join the gang. The only reason I’d say no is if I had to kill ponies or if the curse made it so I can’t see you three again.” Rarity and Dash gave one another very serious looks. There was one more important thing Twilight had to mention. "I noticed something about that magic you were showing me," Twilight said. "That draft you're supposed to feel, I'm getting better at it and- and it always blows from the Everfree Forest... or from one of you. But light magic shouldn't be coming from the forest at all, so it's a different type of magic, isn't it?" Though Twilight didn't say the most obvious answer, that this was dark magic. There was a chance Rarity was somehow casting spells with dark magic, despite that being physically impossible. But if it was possible... "You are clever!" Rarity smiled, impressed, and giggled. Usually, she liked impressing Rarity, but that wasn't what Twilight wanted right now. “Rarity please! I’m not sure if you’re actually vampires,” said Twilight, “or if you’re necromancers or maybe you just worship some evil forest god, but there's something you're keeping from me. I get why you wouldn’t tell me if you were a vampire or whatever upfront. But I’m basically in the gang now. You three are my best friends. You know I’d be cool. I wouldn’t tell anypony. I feel like I’ve been lied to so much. I want somepony to tell me the truth and I really want it to be you.” Rainbow Dash looked over at Rarity to see what she wanted to do. Rarity gave her muzzle two flicks. Twilight knew most of their signals, but not this one. Dash flew back onto the windowsill and Rarity beckoned Twilight over. Twilight never turned down an offer to get close to Rarity and crawled over to her. "I really do love your curiosity. But I can tell it might get you in trouble soon if I don't scratch it.” Rarity scratched Twilight behind the ears. “You're right, I really should have brought you in on all this before you got upset, so I apologize. It’s true the three of us have an important secret, something on the level of those examples you just mentioned. I hope you understand, it’s not the sort of thing we can tell to just anypony.” So there was something! A million possibilities flooded Twilight’s mind. She needed to know. “I understand!” At least, at the moment Twilight’s need to know outweighed any resentment she might have had over them keeping a secret. “But are you seriously vampires?! Whatever it is, I want in on it. Though you don’t- you don’t eat other ponies, do you?” “I’ve never eaten a pony and I’m confident nopony in my gang has either. But yes, I’ll let you ‘in on it’ and you can be one of us for real. But there is one thing I’ll ask you to do in return to earn this. I’ll invite you into the gang and I’ll tell you everything, no more games, and no more secrets.” Rarity extended a foreleg towards the forest as if offering it to Twilight. “But I can only tell you this secret in the Everfree Forest. Follow me there and I’ll show you everything. That’s where Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie got their invitations.” If Rarity offered to tell her in exchange for just about anything else, Twilight would have done it right then. But the forest still scared her, was the last stronghold of her old self. And Twilight hesitated. “Ah come on, Sparks,”’ said Dash. “What’s the problem? You ain’t gonna get hurt, not if you’re with us. We could go do this right now if you got the courage." “I understand I’m mostly only scared of going out there because I’ve been brainwashed,” said Twilight. “But this is the thing they drove into me the hardest! You can’t just get over something that’s been pounded into your head so much. I feel like I'd be less embarrassed talking about sex in public.” “Aw, poor Twilight,” said Rarity. “You know how to free yourself from that, right?” “Yeah! We can tell you about what's in the forest before we go in.” Dash invited her with a cocky smile. "Everypony thinks about what's inside the forest. This is just that thing where they guilt you over something they know you're gonna do." Twilight knew what they meant. There was nothing in the forest that would be as frightening as the darkness your mind created around it unseen. Seeing it, on any level, would kill how frightening it was. It would work. But this would probably be her final step. There’d be nothing left after this. Nothing save going into the forest for real. “Oh, I-“ Twilight looked down at the ground. “I guess I- do want to know? I did imagine it before.” Twilight blushed and scrunched her muzzle. It felt so wrong to say that out loud. “What do you wonder?” Rarity crawled over Dash, forcing the pegasus to climb back up to the windowsill. “What do you imagine when you think about it?” “Don’t- don’t you know what it’s actually like deeper in?” Twilight sank as far back into the arm of the couch as she could. “You go in there a lot. You can just tell me instead of- you know.” “But I want to hear how you imagine it first.” Rarity put one foreleg on the back of the couch and leaned forward, pressing her muzzle against Twilight’s. “You know how much I love stoking your curiosity. What pops into your mind when you can’t help but wonder about the forest late at night? Tell me what you think is out there and then I’ll tell you what I know.” Twilight was just hoping to be more passive in this conversation, but maybe it would be better to just go crazy and admit it. It wasn’t like they were going to yell at her for it, she assured herself. If anything, they’d find it endearing. “W-well I heard somewhere that the Everfree gets more toxic and dangerous as you get closer to the center and maybe like-“ Twilight tapped her hooves together nervously. “And sometimes I kind of maybe want to know what it’s like really deep in… maybe?” “That’s perfectly reasonable.” Rarity nuzzled Twilight gently. “What do you imagine it’s like?” “I guess.” Twilight relaxed a little. “I guess I always think of it as being covered in pools of purples sludge and there’s toxic slime dripping from the trees. The monsters there are maybe just made out of the poison itself, like dripping slime monsters. That’s always what I picture, anyway. There’d have to be an insane amount of poison if it affects us over a thousand miles away.” “Ah yeah, the center,” Dash said from her perch. “That’s gotta be the most horrible part, yeah? What do you think is there, Sparks?” “Well that’s-“ Twilight swallowed. Pinkie popped into the window behind the three and hissed loudly. Twilight fell off the couch yet again and even Dash had to move out of the way as Pinkie put her forelegs over the edge of the window and laughed hysterically. “Why does everypony keep scaring me today?!” Twilight got onto the couch and grabbed Pinkie with her magic, worried the earth pony might fall. “Pinkie, how did you even get up here?” “Vampire powers.” Pinkie let herself be pulled inside and placed on the stairs behind Twilight. “What are talking about? Is it spooky?” “Sparks was about to tell us what she thinks is in the center of the forest,” said Dash. “Ooh.” Pinkie put her hooves on the couch arm behind Twilight. “I like that story.” “Did they ever find out what’s there?” Twilight asked. “They sent tons of ponies out there, but I never heard if any of them made it all the way in.” “Maybe I know what’s there.” Dash had her spooky story grin on, making Twilight unsure if she actually knew or not. “You tell me your idea first.” “Just one more step Twilight,” Rarity promised. “And you’ll have your reward.” Did they seriously know? Twilight wasn’t sure if she was more scared of saying her thoughts or of hearing the truth at this point. “W-well-“ Twilight pushed on, feeling like she was opening a door. “I guess it has to be the source of the corruption itself, right? The thing that all the dark magic is coming from.” “Like what?” Pinkie asked. “Make something up! Make it scary!” “Like-“Twilight had never actually given that nameless terror a shape in her mind. “I dunno. A giant tree or something?” “A tree?” Dash was not impressed. “But an evil tree!” Twilight quickly added. “Like in that movie you showed me, The Root of Evil. It keeps growing and pumping poison into the ground. And it’s so toxic and dangerous that just looking at it makes your head explode instantly. Like in Invasion of the Head Exploders.” “Yeah! I love that one.” Pinkie laughed. “I could watch those heads explode all day. Oh, oh! You should work the monster from Crocpocalypse into it too.” “And uh.” Twilight tried to think of something. “And the crocodile from Crocpocalypse is there too?” “Ah!” Pinkie screamed and fell back onto the stairs. “Now I’m really scared!” “Okay, okay!” Twilight shook her head. “There, I said it! Now it’s your turn.” Rarity looked back at Dash and with a flick of her muzzle gave the pegasus permission. “Alright.” Dash stood up and stretched her wings. “Do you know what's in the center?” Twilight asked. "Like for real?" “Oh, yeah! We know somepony who has a platinum card and they’ve seen the center themselves,” said Dash. “They told us all about it and now it’s your turn.” Twilight’s heart was pounding again. She nodded quickly. This was seriously it! She was about to hear something truly forbidden. Rainbow Dash flew up on the stairs, landing on the balcony that overlooked the main room. She put her front hooves up on the banister and looked down at the others. “The Everfree isn’t just like this the whole way through,” she spoke slowly like she was telling a scary story. “There’s all kinds of different parts of it, marshes and places where the ground is under a few feet of moon water, gorges and canyons filled with so much brush you can walk across them if you’re careful, places with scraggly little trees and vines that look more like a prairie.” “But no matter what, the deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. The monsters get more and more dangerous, eventually, dreadstalkers are common and they’re not even close to the worst thing you can run into. The plants and water get more toxic, until just touching the leaves can leave blisters and the water starts giving off a blue glow.” “If you’re amazing, you eventually make it to a place called the Cavern Grove. It’s called that cause the canopy is so tall and thick that even in the middle of the day it’s pitch black, basically a world of eternal night. If you light a fire down there, every monster within miles will show up and you’ll be relieved if it’s just a bucking dreadstalker. It’s so toxic down there, you need a gas mask all the time.” “And that’s what the center is like?” Twilight asked. “Hehe. No! It gets worse!” Dash flew up onto the railing and started slowly trotting along it. “Almost nopony makes it through there alive and if you do get to the other side of the cavern grove, you’re gonna be the last one in your group left. Just a few miles from the center, the trees start thinning out a bit, but you start getting this purple mist. A gas mask ain’t enough to save you from it. It makes your fur fall out and your nose bleeds constantly and you start hallucinating. And all that’s if you don’t breathe any in. But if you go fast, you can make it to the last part of the forest before you die.” “And… and what’s past that?” Twilight asked. “The closest anypony got, maybe just a mile from the center, is a place they always called the wall of mist. There’s like a huge crater filled with the mist, so thick it really is like a wall. You can’t see what’s down there and anypony who goes in never comes back. We don’t even know if they dissolve or get sucked into another dimension or what." “Oh,” said Twilight. “So nopony ever actually got to the center? That’s a little disappointing.” “Well hey!” Dash flew up a little to stand on the banister. “You’d have to be a total badass just to get to the wall of mist, you know.” “Or rather,” Rarity said with a smile, “it’d be impressive if you could get there without dying.” “No.” Dash rolled her eyes, annoyed. “It’d be impressive even if you did die. You know what my explanation is? If I were an evil god living in the center of the forest, I’d be so impressed by anypony who made it that far that I’d let them join my side.” “But how can you make it a mile or two from the center and then just give up?” Twilight asked. “Can’t you slip a camera into the mist or something? Or try to pull stuff out with a really long metal pole?” “Only a few ponies ever got that far,” said Rarity. “Probably hundreds of thousands died in the forest trying, and not even ten got there.” “Like I said, total badass,” said Dash. “Though by the time you get there, you’re basically dead! You’re starving and anemic and poisoned and all your bones are broken and you’re not exactly up to doing bucking science experiments. And maybe I didn’t play up the hallucinations enough. Once you’re in the mist, you can’t even tell what direction you’re walking in anymore. You don’t know if you’re awake or asleep. Even if you did see the center, and by some miracle got back, you could never be sure it wasn’t just a hallucination.” “So I’ll just never know?” Twilight was suddenly disappointed. “None of us will ever know?!” “Well I'll admit there's a chance I do know just a bit more than what we've told you." Rarity smiled. "But everything else I could tell you can only be told inside the forest itself, whenever you decide to take my offer." “Hey!” Pinkie stood up. “We’re going out tomorrow! You could come with us!” “I dunno.” Twilight shrunk back again. “Are you sure it’s safe? I know you go all the time, but-” “We like you, Twilight,” said Rarity. “You don’t have anything to be afraid of. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.” “Why are you even hesitating, Sparks?” Dash asked. “Cause they told you not to?” “Well-“ Twilight tapped her hooves together. That question was probably the most convincing argument somepony could make these days. This was what Twilight did want this more than anything in the world. She wanted to be a Blue Diamond as much as she once wanted to be a mage. If going into the forest was the only way to do it, to get her answers. "I'll go." All three of them leaned forward, smiling wide. “But not tonight!” Twilight quickly added. “I need time to mentally prepare. Maybe in like a week? No, that's too long! Monday!" “Right.” Rarity stroked Twilight’s mane. “I promise I'll show you everything, then. It might be better if the three of us have a chance to prepare anyway." Twilight let out a long sigh. At least she had the whole weekend to get ready for this. __________________________________________________ Three days later… It was just past sunset. Twilight looked up at Rarity’s house, preparing to go in. The night she promised to go into the Everfree with them was finally here. “Oh boy,” said Twilight. “That weekend went by faster than I thought it would.”