//------------------------------// // Dark Forest // Story: Night Wing // by Gravity012 //------------------------------// We knew we were there by the trees. On minute we were walking in a pleasant, thinly wooded area. The next the trees grew close together with barely enough room to squeeze through the. They were neither tall nor short and the trunks were black and twisted. “So uh....who wants to go first?” Stone asked. “None of you are going.” Swirl replied. “Just Celestia, Luna, and I. It’s to risky to bring all of you.” “What!? You aren’t gong to be able to defend yourselves in there!” Misty hollered. “What she said.” Bullseye said in the background. I don’t think anyone heard him. “At least take someone with you!” Misty yelled. Swirl looked at the ground for a moment. “Fine. Nightwing, you’re coming too.” Yay? I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be happy or not. Misty looked a little upset at that. “That’s it? Just him?” “Well do you want to come as well!?” Swirl glared at her. “I can not risk you freezing up in there! I am risking as few lives as possible!” Lavender took this moment to intervene. “Misty, while I’m sure you want to go with them, Starswirl is right. You would freeze up again. And we may only get in the way!” She sent a pity filled look at Misty. “I understand you want to help. Stay here and help me get a little clinic set up. With the amount of trouble these ponies get into, we may need a whole hospital when they get back.” She sent a good natured smile at us while Misty just looked at the ground in shame. “Please be careful in there. Enough lives have been lost recently.” “Too many lives. While I don’t like it, I’ll stay here and wait. If any thing comes this way I’ll keep them safe.” Bullseye motioned at the ones staying behind. “That’s my brothers way of saying be careful. And good luck.” Stoneslab smirked at Bullseye. “Show that thing what for, ya hear?” “Indeed. And I’ll be here when you all need a pain spell. I’m sure you’ll be sore after this.” Healing added in. Silver stood off to the side a little and smiled at us. “Be safe.” Was all he said. I noticed he looked at Celestia more than anyone else. “Alright, we will try to be back by morning at the latest. If we are not back by then...it may be safer if you all left.” With that, Swirl turned and walked into the woods. “See you soon!” Luna happily waved goodbye before hopping into the darkness. Celestia just looked at Silver before following. “Chirp!” I started walking into the forest before something wrapped around my neck. I looked to the side to see Misty hugging me. “Please be safe. I would rather keep all my friends alive.” With that she let go and backed away, trying to look like she didn’t just hug me. “So. Yeah. You better come back safe! All of you!” She looked at the ground for a moment. “I’m getting fire wood!” With that she flew away from the dark forest to grab some wood. I waved my wing at the remaining ponies and squeezed through the outer trees. Once inside all light seemed to disappear. I could barely see Starswirl and the sisters ahead of me. I caught up to them and enjoyed the small area of light that Swirl's horn produced. The trees on either side of us were extremely close, leaving almost no room to walk. We won’t be flying out, that’s for sure. There was next to no underbrush, only thin, dead looking bushes. No small animals ran through the woods and it seemed the whole forest was dead. Especially when Swirl's horn went out. “What!?” Swirl looked at his horn as It started flickering. “The darkness is to strong for me to use my magic here. This forest is full of dark magic.” He stopped for a second as his horn went out completely. “Are you sure about this Starswirl?” Celestia asked. “Maybe we should go back and plan this better?” “No, we need to finish this. This creature has been a scourge on the land for to long. We need to be rid of it as soon as possible.” Swirl tried to light his horn but it only shot out a few sparks. Then the breathing started. It wasn’t loud. It was almost as if the whole forest was breathing. A barely perceptible wave of air going into the heart of the forest, then a few seconds later coming back out. In and out. In and out. And yet it wasn’t air. None of the leaves moved and none of the bushes were disturbed. Oh man. This just got waaaaaay too creepy. “All that dark magic. You can physically feel it.” He shiver for a moment. “We need to hurry. If we stay to long the magic could start to effect us in...unpleasant ways.” Swirl started moving deeper into the forest with us close behind. We stepped over dead logs laying in the path and deep holes here and there. There was no straight path through the dark. The dark wasn’t a problem for much longer however. As we went deeper a yellow light began to shine through the trees, or from the trees. I couldn’t tell. The light wasn’t much but it was enough to navigate by. And add to the creep factor. As we walked Swirl stumbled and dropped to his front knees. “Starswirl!” Yelled Celestia. “Are you ok!?” Asked Luna. I cringed and looked around after their loud yelling. “I am fine. But the magic is already effecting me. I suspect you have longer due to your more durable bodies. We need to hurry.” Swirl stood back up and pushed forward once more. I moved to follow but snapped my head to the left to look through the trees. But nothing was there. This place is terrifying. I followed the others quickly so I didn’t get left behind. An hour later something changed. The air got three times heavier and the yellow light blinked out of existence. Silence filled our group as we quit walking. A shuffle sounded to the right and our heads snapped over to look. Another shuffle to the left. Another ahead of us. “Its right by us Starswirl.” Celestia whispered to him. “I know. Here.” He handed them the elements and they grabbed them in their hooves. They both touched them to their horns and the Elements changed into rings that they slipped onto their horns. Three for each sister. Luna slipped the Elements for Loyalty, Laugher, and Honesty. While Celestia put on Kindness, Generosity, and Magic. Just in time for the rustling to stop. Giant jaws leapt out of the brush to try and latch onto my neck. Suffice to say they missed. I spun around the teeth and hit the beast on the back of the head with a wing. Then I slashed at him with my new blades. It jumped up just in time to dodge my attack. It grabbed me with it’s mouth and threw me into a nearby tree. It stalked forward to finish me off and I noticed he wasn’t missing a leg anymore. Suddenly bolt of white magic hit it in the back of its head. “Foul beast!! To the grave with you!!” Again a bolt of white magic hit the creature causing him to stumble and growl. He decided that Starswirl was more important than revenge at the moment. He kept at Swirl and slapped him into the woods, out of sight. Then it leapt with open jaws at Luna. “Never!” Celestia shouted and jumped in front of her sister. She threw up a shield that the creature face planted into. “Take that!” It did take it. Very well in fact. It almost seemed to grin as it bit into her shield. Then it made a pulling motion with it’s head. “Aaah! You foul creature! It’s draining my magic!” Celestia’s shield grew dimmer while the shadows leaking from the creature started whipping around with energy. Finally the shield cracked and shattered. The creature almost seemed to laugh as it’s eyes began to glow a dark yellow. Celestia, to weak to evade, was hit by the giant foot of the creature. It walked up to a shivering Luna and opened up its mouth. NOOO!! “KEEEEEAR!!” I shrieked as I managed to stand up and throw myself at the beast. But I was too slow. The jaws closed around Luna’s neck, getting ever closer to the skin. Until a dark blur smacked into its side. “Squuueak!!” A high pitched bat like sound came from the blur. “Have at thee creature of darkness!!” A female voice also came from the blur. Wait. Bat sounds? Is that a-? A dark colored pegasus stood up from on top of the beast. Except it had bat wings instead of feathered ones. The batpony pulled a sword from a sheath on its side and stabbed it into the creature. “HA!! Take that!!” The beast threw her off and lunged for her. I intercepted it much to its irritation. How about round two buddy? “KEEEEAAAR!!” I shrieked at it before I bit into its neck with my sharp beak. The area around the bite turned black with frostbite. “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!!!” The beast roared in pain. I continued my onslaught by dragging my claws through his flesh as I swung onto his back. I saw Celestia emerge from the woods and run to Luna. Get ready you two! I flashed my feathers green at them and continued fighting the beast onto the ground. I wrapped myself around it’s legs as best I could. From the corner of my eye I saw a bright light building. I was kind of preoccupied by the teeth snapping an inch from my face. Well, he’s already mad. Yolo. I quickly reached forward and bit into the underside of his jaw. “Night! Move!” Celestia yelled. Aaaand that’s my cue. I released myself from the beast and threw myself away as the light reached maximum level behind me. But the creature wasn’t going down without a fight. It grabbed my leg and pulled me back onto the ground. I landed on my back so I could see the Rainbow headed for us both. Yep. I shouldn’t have expected anything else. Then the laser hit.