Day two, Time, 2:14 PM

It felt like the entire city of Canterlot was tethered to Twilight’s legs, binding her to the vine covered earth. The fear was so strong that she couldn’t even think. All she could do was stare at the armoured creature in front of her, taking everything about his appearance. She could make out the formations in its torso to reflect its muscles, and two small horns on the top of its helmet. She could feel it emanate with an evil will. It did nothing but stare at the lavender pony and flex its gauntlets on the hilt of its sword.

“W-who are you?” Twilight strained with all her might to get the words out of her throat.

“I am Gorl, guardian of this place and keeper of its treasures.” The figure replied in a dark, hollow voice. “You are trespassing. Leave now and I shall allow you to live. Stay and you shall die like many before you.”

Twilight was slowly beginning to regain the use of her limbs but she dares not to look away from the armoured figure. “O-OK, Gorl. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I was just wondering if I could have a piece of one of these lovely vines so I could be on my way. See I need them to find my-”

Gorl’s helmet shifted slightly towards the unicorn mare. Peering through his visor Twilight could see nothing but blackness. “So not only do you come into my domain, but you lie to my face? Your decision has been made.” He pulled his sword form the ground and slowly raised his right gauntlet in a gesturing motion.

To her horror, Twilight found herself being pulled forward against her will. Her limps moved on their own accord, like somepony had her under a mind control spell. Desperately she tried to fight back, but the force tethering her was too strong.  The golden figure led his opponent to the center of the Dark. This was the only are where light seeped through the cracks in the vines, allowing Twilight to view her surroundings. Immediately she wished she couldn’t.

The wall of vines stretched even farther than the unicorn had originally believed. They enclosed hundreds, maybe thousands of trees within their snakelike grasp. And scattered all around their base and bound tightly to the trees were the gleaming white bones of birds, beasts, and more of the bipedal creatures. It seemed that the golden figure was ever intent to protect his mysterious prise.

Once they were in the center Gorl raised his sword high while still holding his other hand to Twilight. “Now your blood shall feed my vines.” Without any hesitation he brought the sword down towards the unicorn’s neck.

“No!” Twilight screamed. She shut her eyes and channeled magic into her horn. Gorl gave a grunt of shock and annoyance and when she opened her eyes she saw why.

His sword was engulfed in a purple shimmer, just inches away from where her neck joined with the rest of her spine. Gorl was staring at the magic in wonder, and Twilight felt the binding force begin to wither and loosen. She quickly jumped to the side, her golden saddlebag falling of her back. This had the unfortunate consequence of severing her connection with the sword though. No longer distracted Gorl turned to face her, malice and evil practically seeping from his armour.

“You possess powerful magic thief.” His voice boomed. “But it shall not prevail you!” With that he charged forwards.

Twilight fired a blast or purple magic from her horn strait at his armoured chest. It made a direct impact but to her horror it achieved nothing in slow him down. He raised his gauntlet again and Twilight felt his iron like will around her again. But this time she was ready for it. As he approached she focused her magic and blasted Gorl at point blank range. He staggered back from the surprise attack, giving Twilight time to duck around him. He turned around equally fast and swung his sword. Luckily she was able to avoid it, save for a few inches of her tail.

Twilight flipped her body around and delivered a powerful kick to the Gorl’s leg. This achieved nothing more than a small clink and some backlash towards her. Gorl rose his sword again plunged it towards the staggered mare. She moved as best she could, but a stinging pain shot through her left flank. Craning her neck over she saw that her cutie mark was horribly abstracted by a long line of crimson going down its middle. Slowly Twilight tried to move, but only to discover that she had been backed towards the wall of vines.

Gorl advanced upon her and stuck his gauntlet out again. At the same moment Twilight channeled as much magic in her horn as possible. For a moment time seemed to stand still as the two beings were locked in a battle of willpower. Twilight put up a fierce resistance, but her wound and lack of energy from avoiding his attacks had drained her so. To add to her situation Gorl was beginning to raise his sword again.

An idea suddenly popped into Twilight’s mind. She kept up the surge of magic in her horn while watching the great sword intently. Once its wielder had raised it high enough he brought it down in a fast arching movement. As it was millimeters from impact Twilight unleashed the magic in her horn, teleporting behind Gorl as his sword was embedded deep into one of the old trees. There were several loud cracks and what sounded like moans of joy as a few severed pieces of black vine dropped to the ground.

Gorl gave out a roar of rage as he began to pull his sword free, but it refused to move. It was almost like the trees themselves were defying him. He would surely make them pay for this once his business with the unicorn was finished.

As he gripped his sword tighter Twilight levitated one of the severed vines and collected her golden saddlebag. Quickly she placed it inside and began to head for the opening. As she passed through the domes center however, her horn began to glow with golden magic again. “Not now!” She cried to her magical appendage. It paid her no mind however and directed her to the middle of the only ray of light.

Underneath it was a round patch of black mud. Despite not looking like much Twilight could defiantly sense a powerful amount of magic located underneath it. This must be his closely guarded treasure. She thought to herself. Whatever this magic was, she could tell right away that it was only in its infant stages. She stared in wonder at the mud, her mind an explosion of possibilities for what the magic was capable of when matured.

Suddenly a mighty tearing sound echoed around the dome. Looking up Twilight saw Gorl stagger back from the tree, which had now been torn in half. As he was turning around Twilight made a mad dash to the entrance. As she ran forward the unicorn shifted her head back to stare at the figure. He was not pursuing her, instead planting his sword in the ground and resuming the stance he had taken when she first saw him.

Not wanting to wait for his next move, Twilight ran from the Dark and tore through the Forest of Silence. She had no idea where she was going, but she didn’t care.