As Twilight Sparkle looked out of her bedroom window she felt a pull on her heart she could neither understand nor deny. She had been feeling it for a few days now, and all her research hadn’t been able to provide any answers. Even Princess Celestia couldn’t explain what could cause such a thing, but she did manage to remind Twilight of the last time she had feelings she couldn’t explain.
Twilight’s big brother Shining Armor had been about to be married, but Twilight felt somewhere inside that the bride wasn’t what she claimed to be. Everyone disagreed, even Princess Celestia, but Twilight had been right. The bride was an imposter named Queen Chrysalis who had intended to devour the love Shining Armor had for his true bride Princess Cadence. Her instincts had proven true then, and even Celestia herself now believed if Twilight felt something then it would likely come to pass.
So it was with these heavy thoughts that Twilight continued to stare at the night wondering what in the name of Equestria could cause this pull in her heart. Unable to bear looking outside any longer, she resorted to her usual practice whenever a problem presented itself that she couldn’t immediately answer or research in her library, she paced restlessly in circles. She would occasionally look around at her library hoping to find some overlooked book that might provide some clues. It almost hurt that her library had failed her in this task. The beautiful library was built into a tree in a wide circle with nearly every piece of wall holding books. A flight of stairs off to the side lead to her room where a baby dragon named Spike slept even now.
Slowly she started to sense a shift in the pull, it was no longer just some random feeling inside her chest, but now it seemed to have a direction behind it. She could not resist the yearning to follow, and soon found herself trekking the long path towards her friend Fluttershy’s house. This confused her immensely for she had just talked to Fluttershy the previous day, and if the pull had been about her why didn’t it react when they were talking? Twilight continued her pondering all the way until Fluttershy’s cottage came into view.
It was a comfortable building made out of logs, and it looked almost like it had simply grown from the forest behind it. There were small creatures everywhere from squirrels to birds to frogs and much much more. Fluttershy was a yellow pegasus (ponies with wings who can fly) with a pink mane who cared for all creatures deeply, and she often took care of creatures she found sick or injured. That was why the animals were so prevalent in the area, they simply loved being around Fluttershy.
It took only a moment of looking at the cottage to know this wasn’t what had caused the pull, and she almost dreaded to think what her heart know told her. Whatever she needed to find was somewhere in the Everfree Forest.
The purple unicorn shuddered at the thought of the forest and all the creatures inside. In the entirety of Equestria there was no other place like it. The weather occurred all by itself instead of being directed by the Pegasi, there were dangerous monsters inside like manticores and Cockatrice, and there would be no one to come to her aid should she need it. Twilight tried with all her might to resist the pull and not enter the forest, but that proved futile. She could no more resist this pull than she could stop using magic. So she merely sighed as she entered the forest, terrified yet resolute.
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As she traversed the forest she found herself searching constantly. She was not alone but whatever was with her so far didn’t seem to mean any harm, but that didn’t stop the unicorn from working herself into knots wandering what was out there. Her nerves seemed to twist her view of the forest till every tree was dark and ominous, every rock hiding some unseen threat determined to end her, and even the air seemed to chill with menace. Gathering what was left of her confidence she mustered all the energy and magic into her horn she could without alerting her unwanted companion of her intentions. Now all she needed was a direction to aim at.
Using the intense focus she had mastered through years of study and reading she tuned out the scenery and focus on the sounds around her. There was something there, she was having trouble recognizing but it definitely didn’t belong. She took a few moments more to study the sound and realized it was a pair of wings flapping strongly. This had to be it; whatever this was it had been stalking her since she entered the forest perhaps even before, and it was time to end it. Twilight had managed to build a powerful supply of magic in the time she took to analyze her unwanted companion, and when she was certain she had the location of her follower she turn and unleashed that energy directly at the perceived foe.
As the magic made its path she was able to see the foe, and was surprised to see her good friend Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was the best flier in all of Equestria and this day it saved her from her friends deadly attack. When she dodged the beam of magic it went behind her and made mincemeat out of a fairly sturdy tree. Normally loud,arrogant, and foolhardy the rainbow maned pegasus was left speechless by the fate that had so nearly been hers. Her friends weren’t so quiet.
“ What in tarnation do ya think you’re doin Twi?” Came a familiar voice followed swiftly by its owner. Applejack was an orange earth pony with blonde hair. She owned and operated Sweet Apple Acres, the largest and most successful apple orchard in Equestria, and was one of the strongest mares around. This last fact was not lost on Twilight as her friend bore down upon her seemingly ready to do bodily harm for almost blasting Rainbow Dash out of the sky. By the time Twilight pulled herself together to form a response the other three ponies and one baby dragon had left their hiding places and formed ranks beside Applejack.
From left to right stood Fluttershy trying to hide behind her mane so she wouldn’t have to participate in the coming confrontation, Rarity a purple maned unicorn with white fur and owner of the Carousel Boutique Ponyville’s only fashion store, Pinkie Pie an earth pony with pink hair and fur and an irrational ability to ignore the laws of physics, and lastly Spike a baby dragon with green spikes, purple scales, and a natural need to protect Twilight who had raised him from an egg and was as close to a mother as he would ever have. It was this need to protect that had forced him to round up Twilight’s friends when she snuck out tonight and follow her for her own safety.
“I didn’t mean to hurt anypony it was supposed to be a warning shot!” Twilight exclaimed desperate now to sooth her angered friends. They meant everything to her, and the looks they were giving her at that moment was like daggers in her heart.
“Well darling, warnings only work when there someone left alive to receive them!” Rarity shot back sarcastically. It was a true measure of how angry everypony was that Rarity, usually the coolest headed of them all, was resorting to sarcasm and crude language (well crude for her.) Everypony else just stopped and looked at her their shock at her outburst temporarily distracting them. Thankfully for Twilight this stop also had the effect of letting everypony think and regain their senses, though that was for sure not its intent.
It was Rainbow Dash who recovered first and asked rather pointedly “ what the hay are you doing in the Everfree, and why shouldn’t i buck you to next week?!” After saying this she flew over and was now inches from Twilight's face.
“ For the past few weeks i have been feeling a pull on my heart as we have discussed multiple times, but tonight the feeling changed. It’s no longer just some vague concept; it now has a direction. It started pulling me and I followed. I should have brought somepony with me I know and I’m sorry, but the feeling was so strong I couldn’t stop that long, and even now it’s a struggle to breath because i’ve stopped and it wants me to keep going. Rainbow I know you’re angry and you have every right to be, but please understand the spell i threw was only the magic I could build without drawing suspicion I never thought it was powerful enough to hurt anypony!” Having finished her rant of a plea she merely turned her head downward already convinced her friends would condemn her and she would be all alone in the world.
The rejection never came. While she was looking down the six others present had a wordless conference; so in tune with each other they really didn’t need to say anything to reach a forgiving consensus. Well Spike was lost in the sauce but that's neither here nor there. They walked up and simply hugged the lavender unicorn saying more than mere words could ever convey. “ But if you ever fire a spell at any of us again we’ll take turns putting you over our gosh darned knees.” Applejack stated simply when the hug was over. “Well since we’re here already we might as well come with ya Twi, lead on.”
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All six ponies stated marching down the nonexistent path with Spike riding on Twilight’s back. It was a comforting action for both of them, bringing them back to a simpler time, and also expedient for spike was small and bipedal and couldn’t keep up with the six grown mares. His pride wouldn’t let him say it and the six wouldn’t embarrass him like that, but it was simply understood that one of the ponies would let him ride when they needed to do long treks like this one.
The trek was long and arduous and everypony was getting exhausted by the journey, well except Pinkie Pie but she was hyperactive 24-7 so she didn’t really count. As they walked the pull was getting stronger and stronger which Twilight hoped meant they were getting closer. After about three hours they came to an opening in the woods. Everyone knew instantly this must be the place, because the entire area was one giant circle, and far far too perfectly round for nature to have done. On the ground no grass grew, no stone lay, and the dirt was compacted to perfection completely smooth. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other confirming the other felt the raw magical power emanating from the circle.
She had been so worried about uncovering what this feeling meant that Twilight had never really thought about what she would do. She had come this far, but now she hesitated despite the near overpowering pull demanding she enter the circle. Something felt wrong about it, and she felt a chill of menace lingering in the air. If she were alone she would probably have simply entered the circle and seen what happened, but she now had her friends, not to mention her ward, with her. She simply couldn’t justify risking their safety to satisfy her curiosity. Just as she had decided to turn back and forsake this whole adventure she heard Pinkie Pie to her left “ What are you waiting for silly?” and with that Pinkie jumped into the circle.
The reaction was as instantaneous as it was powerful. The entire circle glowed with overwhelming power, and now the thin air of menace was a maelstrom of hatred. “Pinkie get out of there!” came from every mouth. “ I can’t I’m stuck!” came the forlorn reply. Twilight yelled to the others “Come brace me I’m gonna try to pull her out!” All five rushed to her side pushing against her as she desperately reached out with her magic. She held nothing back as she grabbed Pinkie and started pulling her. It was a terrible strain to all of them but Pinkie was slowly but surely was being pulled towards the struggling group.
She was mere feet from the edge of the circle when Pinkie stopped moving. Panic entered every eye as they saw thier efforts come to nill. It was as everyone started to give up that Applejack came up with an idea. “Twi can you use you’re magic to anchor me to everypony?” Startled by the question Twilight almost lost her grip on Pinkie who was being fought over like rope in a tug-of-war match. Her friends were trying to pull her out of the circle , but something was trying to pull her to the middle. After considering it the lavender mare replied simply “Yes. Why?” too busy to say anything more intelligent.
“i’m gonna try and reach her and pull her out you guys will keep me from getting sucked in!” the blonde pony said. The statement was met with universal dismissal. “ Than what do ya’ll suggest then darnnit?”
Rarity came up the the better suggestion. “Why don’t we split the tether with Pinkie so we have all six of us pulling instead of one pulling and five bracers?” This was met with universal acceptance. and was done as soon as they got into positions to start pulling. The momentary lapse had let the force pull Pinkie further to the middle, but this was halted when the five mares and Spike started to pull. At first they seemed to be making headway and pulled Pinkie much closer than last time, but once again she simply stopped.
However almost immediately there was a powerful jerk backwards this time which knocked a few off their feet. This loss of power would be their undoing as the force seized its chance to pull Pinkie to the middle. Together they stood a chance but as they were they couldn’t stop their dear friends fate. It was about a quarter of the way to the middle when the others realized a fact previously overlooked in their planning. They were now all tethered to Pinkie, and so they were now being dragged as well.
They tried everything in their power to stop their advance into the circle but to no avail. They could have cut the tether, but each of them knew in their hearts they’d die long before sentencing pinkie to face this fate alone. As they were dragged to the middle some of them said things they’d always held back, just in case this was the end so they wouldn’t die without having said them.
“Spike I have always considered you my son and I’m very very proud of you, and I’m sorry it took this to make me say that.” came Twilight’s tearful admittance.
“Me too Mom me too.” came the reply. It was simple yes, but truly what more needed to be said.
Having heard that Applejack found the courage to state her own secret “Rainbow I I I’ve loved you for a long time and I was so scared of ruining our friendship I never told you that. I want you ta know i’ll always be there for ya. Always.”
Rainbow was simply too shocked to say anything until they reached the middle of the circle, but by than it was too late. The moment they hit the middle the entire circle turned a deep red, and for a long time they knew no more.