//------------------------------//
// Chapter 18: Clearing and Crossroads 
// Story: Penned IN 
// by Qwix 
//------------------------------//

	Empty Ponyville, save for a few stray animals, deterred him none as he forged a path towards the Everfree forest. He did not stop to look at what he had, in his mind, already forsaken; the hues around him melded together as he ran, slipping from the edges of his vision into obscurity.
Finally, he breached the edge of the town. A path opened in the trees of the forest; he plunged into it without second thought. The branches were thick, the leaves blinding, but he dodged every single one while he galloped into the unknown.
Soon—or in an eternity, he could not tell—a clearing opened up before him. He stopped, breath heaving, and sat in the center, thinking of only one thing. 

Lyra, I am coming for you.

Several seconds passed in wind-hallowed silence. Only his thoughts and the wind around him seem to exist as silence descended upon every crack and crevice, suffocating the place. Then, a single foomf sound broke the silence; he opened his eyes. Before him was Gosthette, accompanied by two ebony beings.
"So, you have decided to come to us," she said as she smiled, warmer than he though was possible. "Excellent. You two, kindly escort him. We must make wingbeats for Canterlot ASAP."
They moved wordlessly to his sides, each putting a hole-riddled arm under his shoulders. They lifted into the air with a buzzing sound. Gosthette beat her wings, hovering towards the sky, whilst sending even more feathers into the air. He dully noticed that she had even less feathers in her wings than last night; in its place was the scaly membrane of an insect's wings.
"We fly low," she commanded.
They began to move. With one final, heavy look, he glanced behind him as they began to skim the tree line. Ponyville seemed just as empty now as it did before; devoid of warmth, devoid of sentimentality. He sighed and turned back towards Gosthette.
She hovered above him. "I do not think I need to remind you that you will not be returning here, Pennaprose... so I do hope you've said any goodbyes and teary moments with the right ponies before you left."
He coughed, thinking of Twilight. He could hardly call that a teary goodbye, but at the same time, he could not bear to face her with his decision to leave. It was... for the better this way.
"...Hm. Yes, it is," said Gosthette.
He forgot that he could read his mind, but he didn't care. His gaze focused single on the horizon, towards a towering castle built into a mountain side in the distance. That must be where they were headed...
"Penni!" came a voice from somewhere behind them. It was Twilight.
A chorus of voices joined hers, all calling his name. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie... Fluttershy and Applejack, too. His heart dared to rise in his chest, but his eyes could not match it. He did not look back.
Gosthette turned her head and made a sound of annoyance. "You two continue towards Canterlot. Tell Quitangu I will be there shortly and not to mishandle Pennaprose." She turned to face the girls.
Without warning, the changelings that were carrying him let go. As he tumbled through space, he caught glimpses of his escorts wrapped tight in rope and scarves, falling with him.
He heard Dash fly in through the sky, but before contact was made, an enormous cage of ice formed around him. Dash ran headfirst into the pillars, but they did not yield; she fell to the ground.
"It seems this will not be as easy as I had hoped..." said Gosthette. Before his eyes, ice started to form from her coat, creating frozen armor. She beat her wings furiously, then charged at Twilight, who was at the ready.
She replied by blasting a beam of pure, concentrated magic. Gosthette swiftly dodged with a barrel roll, landing in front of her. She wound up with hooves made of steel and struck. Dash came from nowhere, intercepting the blow, but the force of if knocked the pair of them back into the trees.
He winced as trees snapped in their wake. He didn't want them to get involved in this...
"Get 'em, Fuzzy!"
Fluttershy's voice rung from the tree line somewhere out of sight. He watched in awe as a grizzly bear lumbered out of the trees, hell-bent on getting to Gosthette. She turned around, unblinking.
The bear snarled, bearing down on her with claws and fangs. She slipped underneath it, transforming into a solid rock larger than her. It checked the bear's advance, slowing it. While it recoiled, she shifted from a rock to a small dragon. She picked the bear up from the gut as it stumbled backwards, claws digging, and performed a suplex with little seeming effort.
The bear went limp, falling on his back. Gosthette let out a cooling breath, eyeing the bear. "Hm..." she sighed.
She did not have time to rest, however. Twilight and Dash had recovered, breaking through the air towards her at top speed. She responded by taking a ready stance, gathering a chill wind at her horn. At the last possible second, she jumped into the air and twisted sideways, threading the pincer formation that Dash and Twilight were making.
He did not see what happen next, it happened so fast. But the results were clear; Dash was plowed into the ground face first while Twilight was soaring haphazardly through the air, wings partially frozen. Pennaprose cringed as Twilight hit another tree. Gosthette moved after her.
"...Hey! Pennaprose!"
"Huh?"
He ripped his eyes from the fight. Behind him was Pinkie. In the cage with him.
"What the heck?" he said.
"C'mon, the cage is open! We're getting you back to Ponyville!"
Indeed, the bars behind her were carved neatly open. She put a hoof around his neck and dragged him towards the exit, shoving him out without warning.
He hit the ground gracelessly, face first; Rarity and Applejack were upon him immediately.
"Y'kay, sugarcube? Nothin' broken?"
"Oh dear, that looked painful. Are you all right?"
He stumbled to his hooves, looking around. The changelings that were escorting him were struggling against their bonds; Gosthette was hovering over Twilight, talking to her. The signs of battle were far clearer down here; the grass was upturned, numerous trees had been felled.
"...I'm fine. But why–?"
"Pennaprose, you don't know just how right you were back there," said Rarity. "That speech was fabulous, I haven't even heard the mayor give one that good! ...And more right than I think anypony could ever admit."
"Now, I don't know nothin' about no humans," added Applejack. "But I know I never even dissed Lyra before. She's helped around the farm on the odd chance, and there don't get any more respect from me than that."
"But you're wrooooooo-ooong! There might be some ponies that would be glad to see her gone," chimed Pinkie. "But far more sad ponies if she was gone. There's Bon Bon, remember?"
"Oh, let's not forget," said Fluttershy, who had appeared from thin air. "There'd also be ponies heart's crushed if you left..."
"Aaaaand... let's not forget that we can't possibly get you back home if you left Ponyville forever with that... eaugh... horrendous fashion apocalypse. Seriously, those mane colors are soooo> clash-y. Bleck."
He fumed for a minute. He knew the risks, he thought he had come to terms with what he was giving up... but why did hearing them spoken to him make him feel so wrong?
A sudden blast of winter wind snapped the group out of their impromptu meeting. Twilight and Dash both flew through the air backwards, icicles and frost coating each. Gosthette was unscathed, wearing an expression of plastered boredom.
"Hmph... I am wasting far too much time. And it seems that I cannot force you aside without risking your lives. Needless..."
Her nearly-featherless wings flapped, transforming into the enormously imposing wings of a roc. The remaining upright trees bent to encompass the sudden intrusion, snapping nigh instantly. A single flap from them rose a gale force that cleared the rest of the debris, nearly blowing away him and girls as well.
"You two. Quit fooling around. We return to Canterlot immediately. Without my agenda finished, unfortunately."
The two changelings that had been tied up broke free of their bonds by transforming into pure lava. Rarity screeched in terror as her scarves were turned to ashes in an instant.
They reformed into snow, gathering at Gosthette's sides. "Pennaprose, I am sorry to say that your decision to see Lyra is inconsequential. Still, if your heart desires to see her, it is not impossible. Come to Canterlot in the next day or two, and I might be able promise that you'll be able to her as she remains in your memory again. Past that... even Celestia cannot help you bring her back. She will be as good as dead."
The rest of her form followed her wings, causing the very ground beneath her to buckle and crack. With a mighty beat, she lifted into the air, sending hurricane force winds blowing throughout the clearing. He couldn't see—his glasses had been blown off his face somewhere—but in the blur of wind he could discern the form of roc-Gosthette, flying away and sending a trail of trees haphazardly into the air from her wingbeats alone.
Everything finally settled. The trees themselves seemed to be in a state of shock, only now just beginning to relax back to where they were. Dash was the first to break the tense silence.
"...That was a thing. Pennaprose? We kinda just got our flanks handed to us. What now?"
He stared out into the newly created basin. The question rebounded in his mind, but no signs of even a guess came to him.
"...Penni? We're here, you know. I... I owe you an apology."
He said nothing. He felt nothing.
"I underestimated just how badly you wanted to save Lyra. Or rather... I overestimated your attachment to Ponyville. I had hoped that you had felt a kinship with Ponyville, even though, as you put it... 'don't belong here as I'm a human'. But today, I think I have seen the lengths of where your heart falls..."
Pennaprose glanced at Twilight, who stood steadfast with Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy. "I knew what I was leaving. I knew the sacrifices that would have to be made. But Twilight, I might not know my real name. I might not even be a full human, if Gosthette is right about us. But there is one thing I do know for certain. And it's that when I betray my heart, I betray everyone I know. For in your hearts lies a piece of me; the breif, smoldering memories, a piece of my own heart. If I were to change from those memories, then I have betrayed everything I am. At least, what little of it I am.
"So I follow my heart, as I always have. At first, I just wanted to be as respectable and unimposing of a houseguest as possible. For that was what my heart had told me to do. Now, it tells me to recompense the most grievous of sins I have committed since coming here, even if means I must trail more pain and sin in my path. There would be time afterwords to patch the smaller holes, I had felt...
"I had wronged Lyra, and in doing so, crushed the spirit of a single pony. Without knowledge, without intention, and in the spirit of my original goal, this is true... My sleep is filled with nightmares impelled of fear, my daydreams injured by an animate horror. I cannot truly rest until I have corrected my mistakes with Lyra. When I find her, I wish to start over with her. And when that time comes, I will get it right."
The girls had given their rapt attention; the attentive eyes of a mere six ponies seemed much more unnerving that the wayward gaze of a thousand. Pinkie whispered 'Two for two', but Twilight was the first to actually speak.
"Then... you have only one thing wrong," she said. "There will be no I in finding Lyra. There will be only an us. Girls?"
They gave a round cheer. Finally in his apathy, he felt a tingle of appreciation, but it was also mixed with a trickle of fear as he recalled Gosthette's words.

Past that... even Celestia cannot help you bring her back. She will be as good as dead.

There was definitely no time to relax. "She said to head to Canterlot," said Twilight. "It's a good thing that the trains came back online this morning..."
"They did?" Pennaprose asked. "That's news to me."
"Yes, they did. And we are not going to waste any time," said Twilight. "Oddly convenient, isn't it? That we were already planning to go there when the train lines open up. Though researching the way back to your world will definitely have to take a second seat to finding Lyra. Right, Penni?"
He smiled for what seemed to feel like the first time in days. "Yes. ...And thanks, Twilight."
She smiled warmly. "Well then! What are we waiting for? We've got a train to catch!"
He nodded, though a thought occurred to him. "Before we go, I'd like to mention that this could easily be a trap. Gosthette could just want to lure me–and only me–there. Are you all okay risking yourselves on my account?"
Rarity stepped forward and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Darling, why are you even thinking that? I guess you just don't know what the scope of us means? Fluttershy, if you'd be so kind..."
"We've fought for Equestria as a group far too many times to count. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra... and if changelings are involved in this, then we might run into Queen Chrysalis again. We have experience in fighting as a group, don't think we can't handle ourselves."
"Yeah!" added Rainbow Dash. "Have you even seen me fight? There's not a changeling in Equestria that can match me!"
"How about the one that just handed your own flank to you?" asked Pinkie.
Dash looked disgruntled. "I'm not at the top of my game today..." she mumbled. "Still! Those little guys? Not a problem for me if Rarity was able to tie one down easily."
"Not bad at all with that rope-work by the way, Rarity," said Applejack. "Mighty sorry about those scarves, though."
"Eheheheh. Don't worry about those, eh... silly little things. I can make more..."
He panned his gaze across them all, a burgeoning sprout of hope growing in a void he hadn't realized was even there. The sudden insurmountable nature of his task, had he truly taken it alone, loomed and vanished before his thoughts. He was inwardly glad that this turn of events had turned down the easiest path; the road he might have chosen would have left far too many holes to patch alone...
The seven of them headed back towards their respective houses, all in agreement to meet back up at the train station with any necessities in tow. It may be a while before they return to Ponyville, but that thought itself heartened him further. He would be able to return at all.
And when I do, we will be a party of eight, said his heart. He knew it to be right.