The Witch Of The Everfree Forest!
Written By
Serra Quill
"A little to the left, my dear, that's it, a little~ more... yes, just perfect"
"Rarity, please, just pick a ribbon... it's been three hours now." Sunset said with exasperation, slumping over in fatigue.
Her friend Rarity just waved her hand back and forth, "Pish posh Darling, you just can't rush perfection, everything has its place." Rarity said with conviction, adjusting her glasses before she called up to her other friend, who also sighed and moved the sheet a smidgen to the left.
"I have to agree with Egghead, like around two hours forty-five minutes ago. C'mon Rares, I am super bored now, not to mention hungry." Rainbow whined just as her stomach let out a massive gurgle. Pointing to her stomach, "See, it agrees, these purple ones will do, now c'mon will yah!" She said as she flew back to the ground to the others, "Let's get going already, were already extremely late as it is."
Sunset laughed loudly before letting out a small snort, giggle, "You’re concerned about being late? You’re the last person who could complain about being late dash, you always have your head in the clouds... or more precisely, on them," Sunset uttered with a smirk.
Dash pulled her face as Rarity gave a light chuckle herself, covering her mouth with her hand, "Yes, agreed, but I believe she is more worried that Pinkie will have eaten everything before we could get there... though, it is a very plausible worry... Maybe we should hurry up and get going after all." Rarity offered, to which her two friends cried out "Thank Celestia!" Rarity grumbled just before she started to walk in the direction of her pink friend's workplace, "Alright, alright, let's hop to it then, shall we?"
"Oh... I erm, I don't like the sound of that," a small girl with long soft pink hair said, before hiding behind her hair, "Sorry," she squeaked.
"But I need you and the rest of the girls to be able to get to the castle. Please Fluttershy, you're the only one who really knows how to get through the Everfree without much hassle from the wildlife." Sunset pleaded to Fluttershy as the valkyrie sat and twiddled her thumbs, quickly looking to her other friends who were around the table.
"W-well, I could, I mean, if you really, really~ needed help..." she said, looking away from Sunset, before adding in a whisper, "Please say you don't really need my help."
"If it was anything else, believe me, I wouldn't push this much, but I really, really need help." Sunset pleaded once again.
"O-oka-"
"Now wait a sec, Ya'll are sayin' ya' wan'ta be going to that spooky castle? Yah’ know it’s haunted right?" Applejack said, interrupting what Fluttershy was about to say, even making her begin to hide under the table as the cutlery started to bounce from her shivers.
"Oooh~ bouncy!" another Pink haired girl chimed as she started to bounce in rhythm with the knives and forks.
Rarity glared over to Pinkie before ducking slightly under the table to help out Fluttershy. Undeterred , Applejack carried on like nothing was happening, as did everyone else as they were used to it.
"So then, what exactly haunts the castle?" Sunset said skeptically, "Will this be another Zecora case?"
Applejack grinned cheekily before adjusting her hat, "nah, that was different than this, ain't no lie. There's a tale 'bout that castle, that it has a curse upon it n' it's haunted by a ghost who brings chaos to anyone who walks the halls of the castle." she began as she leant further into the table, looking left to see if anyone was listening also checking her right side which coincidentally was the window. "They say he can cause chaos with just a snap of his fingers, he takes your friends or your family and turns them into shadows of their old selves, who start to act differently and then they just... then they disappear! That he lives in the shadows and that if you were to ever see him, you have to run, keep runnin' and never to look back at his eyes if he sees you."
Sunset sighed, What's with this town and all its fairy tales, first there was boggy bottoms basilisk problem that turned out to be just a dead tree that fell over and got covered in mud, plus it was Rose and her two friends who saw it first so that was a big give away to actually check what it was first. Then obviously there was Zecora, but Applebloom helped me out with that one, apparently the two had been friends after an accidental meeting and lastly, there was... "You can't believe every tale out there Applejack. What’s next, the witch becoming real?"
Applejack stared at Sunset for a second before she just simply said, "Yep..." with a gulp, Well I hadn't been told not to tell anyone about Twilight being the witch, since she said herself that she wasn't hidin'.
Twilight paced through the forest as Scootaloo followed her, leading the young girl into an area where there was currently no tree canopy above, "It’s not long now before we get there."
Scootaloo just nodded as she looked around her, jumping slightly at the sounds of the forest. Without her friends by her side, she was more scared of the forest than she thought she would be. Creeping closer to Twilight she followed quietly through the underbrush , until she had to shield her eyes from a sudden bout of sunshine as the clearing came into view.
Twilight carried on walking as Scootaloo looked around, before noticing Twilight and sprinting after her, "So, today I would like you to try another bit of druidic magic, slightly different than the first kind I taught you," she said as she morphed into a raven, flying up to a large boulder before changing back and landing in a sitting position on its edge with grace.
Without a clear way up, Scootaloo looked up at Twilight, since she had to admit that the boulder was too high for her to get up with her wings current health. "So is this magic I am going to be able to do? Because most of the magic involving using the stones didn't work that well for me... It worked pretty alright for Bloom though," she recalled.
Twilight nodded as she looked into the sky above them, a solitary cloud lazily drifting by, "I believe so, yes. Since it is more in-tune with your core, compared to your two friends who really don't need this specific spell... yet."
"And what would it be?" Scoot asked irritably, she thought Twilight was nice, but she did speak a bit too mystically sometimes... is mystically even a word...?
Twilight looked down with humor at the young girl, remembering of a time immemorial and chuckling, "I want to teach you how to see the air currents and all it entails, to be able to use it to your advantage, meaning you would need to use your muscles less and you could use your head instead. For instance-" she replied as she snapped her fingers; a blue feather appeared in the air and began to slowly float to the ground before Twilight gently caught it in her hand.
Twilight hopped down off the ledge and slowly floated down somehow, which Scootaloo gaped at in disbelief, "This feather here," she held her hand out with the item between her fingers, "it doesn't way much. The Calamus is a bone that is hollow that lessens the weight as well as the rest of the feather being very light,but still there is a force that drags it to the earth. Like so," she lectured as she tipped her hand, the feather drifting down before it landed on the ground without disturbing anything.
"Gravity, got it," Scoots answered, nodding as Twilight’s magic picked the feather up again, "I already know quite a bit about feathers since, y'know..."
"Yes, I do. It is still important. Now to stop gravity from pulling a Valkyrie to the earth because of their wing size, they use their magic and their stamina to keep aloft. In your case you have the magic, as well as the stamina, but you can't use it efficiently yet, so that's where this druidic magic can help." She began as she pointed to her eyes, a soft blue glow came over her iris that if Scootaloo wasn't paying attention, she probably would not have noticed if it were not for Twilight pointing it out.
"Whaaaat~ that looks so cool, can you like, shoot lasers out of your eyes or something with it?" she exclaimed in excitement, "cause a mark in eye lasers would be so cool!"
Whatever would someone want to shoot lasers from their eyes for, Twilight wondered as she shook her head, "I am afraid not." she said as Scootaloo 'awed'. It didn't last long, though, as Scootaloo seemed to be ready to listen again, "What it does do though, is it helps you find updrafts, as well as many other things the more you use it."
Scootaloo scratched her arm as she looked around them, "So how do I exactly use this magic then? I have no clue how to actually use my magic as its more passive compared to the other races..."
"And that is the tricky part. I will help you with your first use, then you can try to replicate the technique without me next time." Twilight said as she stood directly in front of the girl and held out her hand, "Would you hold my hand for a moment?"
Scootaloo did so without any hesitation since she did agree to learn druidic magic, and if she had to be honest it was pretty cool seeing Twilight do stuff that she said even she could do. She had agreed to start some minor training with Twilight just earlier when Twilight had suggested she had something she could teach her to help her fly quicker. "Like this?" she asked.
Twilight placed her thumb onto the back of Scootaloo’s hand, as she cupped it within her own, "It is fine, now close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Concentrate on what you feel," she finished as she started her spell, her eyes becoming the same tiny blue glow as before, just as a network of glowing blue lines streamed down her arm and attaching themselves to Scootaloo. Twilight held firm as Scootaloo squirmed slightly, "I know it feels peculiar, but you will get used to it." she said, as the lines made their way to Scoot’s neck before dividing into two separate lines and rising up her cheeks into her eyes.
"My eyes feel slightly warm... is that supposed to happen?" Scootaloo said worriedly, still having her eyes closed.
Twilight finished the spell as the lines receded back into her, "Yes it is. There isn't anything to worry about. Now this ability is something that is tricky to use but with time I am sure you will learn to adapt to its ways."
"So, can I open my eyes now or?"
"Slowly, as your eyes will feel more sensitive to the light, which is another thing that you will adjust to," she explained as Scootaloo slowly opened one eye and then the other, "Well, what can you see, can you describe it to me?"
Scootaloo stood still as she stared at the air around her, seeing bits of pale red and yellow whisking around them both in different hues, "I can see colors, lots and lots of colors," she said as she reached out to a red stream near her, feeling the slight change of temperature in the air and the speed at which it was rising up before the red receded into the sky. "Are these updrafts?"
Scootaloo turned to Twilight, seeing her with a smile that felt somehow different from normal, "Yes, yes they are. The more red, the more heat that is in the updraft, meaning you rise faster. The yellow tones are more mild updrafts that will keep you aloft It is a very helpful technique when you are outside, Blue streams are downdrafts... sadly this won't help much indoors or in enclosed areas. "
"Now Scootaloo, I want you to try to stop seeing these drafts on your own, just give it a try," Twilight asked as she watched Scootaloo nod with a grin.
Breathing out slowly Scootaloo closed her eyes and cleared her mind, concentrating on the feeling her eyes were giving off and trying her best to stop it, even growling in effort before she let out a puff of air and flung her arms in the air, "I can't!" she exclaimed.
Laughing, Twilight assured her that was fine, "I remember when I first did this, my teacher left me alone and never actually taught me how to stop the spell, he drove me absolutely mad. He would come and prank me and keep bugging me all day for days until he finally went too far, but at the same time I stopped thinking about my eyes and focused solely on him as I was too annoyed. As I did this, the spell tapered off and deactivated, so what do you think would be the cause for the spell wavering and disappearing?"
Scootaloo thought for a few seconds, as intriguing as it was to hear Twilight’s past, she was being taught something important and interesting. "Was it that you forgot about the spell being on your eyes?"
"Very perceptive. With me being bugged all the time, although it's clearly not the correct way of teaching," she said with a sigh, "it did show me what to do." Twilight walked over and held a hand on the girls back as she chuckled, "So are you interested in any boys?"
To this, Scootaloo sputtered as she waved her arms across her face, blushing as she hurriedly refused to be a mushy frilly girl who was into boys... with a gag to add dramatic effect.
Twilight gave a hearty laugh as Scootaloo noticed the enchantment on her eyes had dissipated, "Oh my, I haven't had so much fun in a thousand years, that old goat was annoying but he did have a few things to teach."
"That wasn't funny," Scoot grumped, folding her arms before she asked, "What old goat?"
At the question, Twilight flinched slightly before coughing into her hand, "A story for another time I am afraid, but I have two tasks for you now," She started, immediately getting away from the subject of her teacher.
"Uh-huh?"
Twilight walked back to the big boulder and patted it with her hand, "Try to reactivate the spell and use the air currents to get on top of this. Oh, and here," she said before passing her student a small blue crystal, already having left the other on top of the ledge when she went up earlier, "There is another stone on top of the boulder. If you get up there, I want you to touch the stones together as it will notify me of your success... Now, I will place a warding spell around the clearing so that absolutely no creatures but me or Spike will come near and then I can leave you to try your best."
Scootaloo shuffled her feet, "Maybe, erm... could you stay just a while longer? I will try my hardest, it's just I don't think I will be able to get it that easy and I might need some help."
Twilight walked over and gave the girl a pat on the head and ruffled her hair, "You will do fine. I will stay a while, but then I want you to be able to stay here and keep trying. I will be back in another few hours before night falls, you will be perfectly safe, I will even send Spike to keep you company if you wish?" She asked as Scootaloo smiled up happily.
Scootaloo nodded eagerly, "That’d be cool, if he's not too busy, I'll try my best!"
Twilight smiled down at her before nodding and moving to sit down on a close rock that was high enough to be a seat, "Then let’s begin, shall we?" she said as she started to cast her spell, just as Scootaloo tried to replicate how the spell from earlier felt and tried to activate it again.
Hours had passed and Scootaloo now slept, absolutely exhausted. She hadn't been able to fully activate the spell, but she said she got it to flicker on so a big smile was now spread across her face as she snuggled into the feathery blanket covering her on the couch. Twilight smiled down at her before she felt someone coming. Standing up, she exited her carved tree house and made her way to the small pond out back, waving at Spike, signaling him to go back to sleep.
Upon arrival, she smiled as she sat down on the fallen tree that was just beside the pond, turning her head to greet her visitor, who beat her to it, "Hello big sister."
So I wonder how Sunset will react to Twilight when she finally meets her? Hopefully we will find out next chapter.
Good job.
7858707
Probably act like a fangirl squealing at the teacher of her teacher and being the student of Starswrill the Beard, aka the Old Goat. I wonder if Sunset will know of Twilight the moment she see's her if she is as Beard crazy as cannon Twilight.
tia tia tia!!!!!!! best big sister :D
7858734 That would be hilarious lol.
7858734
Given his terrible taste in humour and her calling him an old goat, I was actually suspecting Discord might have been her teacher.
I come back off a 2 week holiday to see new chapters of this I'm so happy and also Its ALIVE ITS ALIVE!!!
Also big sister is either Tia or Lulu.
There is an unfinished [hr in the text, enjoy the search
7859146 the Mack when aj says it is more for a stronger pronunciation of his name, probably the only time you will see it spelt that way is with aj, unless she would be speaking more softly. Sorry for the confusion ;)
7859149 thanks for the heads up too
7859269 np.
7845966 yo, I updated it, it says drake instead of wyvern now, thanks for the heads up
sister meet again, i wonder which sister it is,
7858970 i think discord is twilight little brother,
7859067 from the flash back in an early chapter, i think age wise it goes twilight, tia, lulu, then twilight lil brother,
7859283 yea but did u remember to update the older chapters,
good work either way now which sister is it, or could it be her brother....
7859791 I will be going through chapters when I am back to try using a new software that I was suggested to use, so if I have missed one, I will find it soon
7859853 yea, keep up the good work,
Finally here!!!!! I can't wait!!!!
You're about to find out.
I can't wait to see how everypony reacts to Twilight and Spike. Bonus points if they think they have to rescue Scootaloo from Spike. Though I can also see Fluttershy cooing over Twilight's cat form.
7860592 I ended up getting really tired yesterday so I went to bed early, I will go back through the chapters today and have a look at what changed, thanks for pointing them out though because i probably wouldn't have noticed :)
Nitpicky time!
Should be weigh
I luv how this story did get update for a while now it like getting update every other day
me think twilight and fluttershy are going to become Best of friends, when they meet, I think rainbow dash going to attack twilight out of a mis understanding she has with scrooterloo, rarity I not sure how she going to react and pinkie going to be throw her a lot of partys,
sunset is going to be worship her and ask for lessons,
Noticed a distinct lack of apostrophes, and a few other minor errors.
Still a fun story, just has some confusing wording.
7866647 I currently have a team of editors going through the chapters now, before I go onto the next chqpter
7866896 Good to hear, you might want have some of them go over your future chapters before officially posting them as well. Also, you have misspelled word there.
7866903 I will be doing, so that quality is much better
7866923 Self-improvement is always a good idea.
I think it be funny if celistia would be over protective of her sisters when it come to they love lifes in past
7866896 thats good thing
I belive this story might go with the assumption that Star Swirl later became Discord...
7903769 true but think she goign to have to wait, me think twilight going to be great at hideing,
7903769 true but me think twilight is not going to like the loud party, since she like her peace and quite......
7894781 I think u may be on to something there, that or Star Swirl was they father, and discord was they teacher.....
7956377 The level of connections would be too high then. My bet is that Celestia also liked her teacher a bit too much if you know what I mean...
7956564 hehehehe who knows, but I just reread it all and I think twilight brother is the shadow unicorn king what his name,
I am kind of hoping Candace is twilight's daughter, and sunset happen to be twilight many time over great granddaughter,
7956573
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Well, having that all family connections spun around is a good idea. But I think it might go a diffrent way. At one point Twilight might be socialized to the point of going out to find the decendants of her family. And find Trixie.
7864831 Probably new as in Pinky has never met her before.
7956384 In this case yeah it would be "her", but it tends to be said "him".
7961912 oh i knew,
hope for update soon
7961911 true, but me think pinkie going to throw party while they in the everfree after twilight save they bum....and throw one for spike as well... then wonder how long they been live there then throw b day party for both of them to make up for all ones they have miss.....
7966319 Hehe, I don't think Twilight will want the same number of candles on her cake as the years she's been alive, considering how long it must be to have met the Two Sisters when they were still young.
7974491 true I bet herself and the other princess all say "we 1200 year old" when they may be far older,
7974491 I think twilight is only year or two older then celestia,
7864803 Because you've seen Howls Moving Castle?
7976408 Its possible, I know she's at least older then Luna, but possibly younger then Celestia, hard to say. I'd have to reread that chapter with them to see if there's a way to determine there age difference, cause height alone isn't enough.
Not knowing there exact age is a good thing though, it leaves it open for speculation and opportunity.
7977056 that and I watch soul eater.....
7992575 So have I, and Soul Eater Not ^^