"So are we good now? Or do I need to shock the two of you again?"
Both creatures were too nervous to argue back.
"Good."
"Thanks, Tempest." Starlight approached the other two creatures. "I'm going to ask a few questions, and I want facts, not arguments. If either of you two starts arguing again, I'll have Tempest zap you again."
The siren dropped an eyebrow. "Why not zap us yourself?"
"Because Tempest enjoys doing it."
The dark-colored unicorn nodded.
"First off, who's the sea pony?"
The yellow unicorn looked over at the creature beside her. "Actually, she's a siren."
Starlight blinked a couple of times. "Siren? As in, one of the three sirens that Starswirl banished a long time ago?"
The siren cleared her throat. "Yeeees. I aaaam oneeee offf-" *Bzzzt!* "Yeow!"
Tempest's horn had sparks coming off of it. "No singing!"
The siren hid behind her hooves. "I-I wasn't singing!"
"Yes, she was!"
"No, I wasn't!"
The yellow pony pointed at the non-pony. "Yes, she was! Zap her again!"
*Bzzzt*
"NOT ME!"
Tempest's horn was starting to look like a sparkler. "You're both getting too loud! Quiet down or I'll shock both of you again!"
That got them to quiet down.
Starlight shook her head and sighed. "What's your name?"
The siren eyed Tempest. "... Sonata Dusk."
Tempest turned to the unicorn. "And you?"
Starlight coughed. "She's Sunset Shimmer. I've actually met her before. That's why I didn't ask her. I forgot you don't know her."
Tempest rolled her eyes. "Now that we're all introduced, how about we all get along so no one has to be left a twitching mess that can't move for days."
Both Sunset and Sonata were sweating buckets.
"By your expressions, I take it you agree?"
Both of them slowly nodded.
Starlight tilted her head. "Thinking about it, aren't you a bit small for a siren?"
Sonata looked at her hooves. "I don't get it either. I should be bigger than this."
"Come to think of it..." Tempest looked at her own hooves. "Didn't you say we were going to become something other than ponies? Why are we still ponies?"
Sonata scratched her head. "Maybe we collided with you and knocked you back into Equestria?"
"Actually..." Starlight looked around at the trees surrounding them. "It's far more likely that we aren't in either Equestria or the human world. Aside from the fact that the mirror should have put us in either the park or the castle, this looks nothing like the forests near Ponyville."
"And I haven't seen anything like this in the human world." Sunset locked eyes with Starlight. "Maybe colliding into each other caused us to go to a different world entirely?"
"Speaking of which, why were the two of you going into the mirror? Starlight and I were trying to avoid that weird light thing."
"We were in the same situation." Sonata looked straight up, through the part of the trees the light was pouring through. "That thing appeared in the sky and started shooting lasers. My sisters and I were trying to get through the portal to escape to Equestria. Sunset tried to block us as her friends went through."
"I got into a physical struggle with her when one of those beams headed right for us. We practically shoved each other into the mirror."
Starlight held her hoof to her mouth. "Maybe it was a timing thing. If that thing was destroying our world, then perhaps our worlds don't exist anymore. Since both exits stopped existing, it found another world to drop us in. That would also explain why the four of us ended up so close to each other."
A rustling in the nearby trees drew their attention.
Tempest scanned the small gaps between the trees. "If there's a fight, I can handle it. But we don't know anything about where we are. We should try to leave the forest as soon as possible and see if we can find someone else." She turned to the pair from the other world. "Think you two can get along until we get out of this place?"
Sunset and Sonata glared at each other, then nodded.
"Good. Now let's get going. There's really only one path to follow."
Starlight shrugged at the other two before following closely behind Tempest. The other two shared another glare, then followed behind Starlight.
For the next few minutes, the four of them moved in silence. The trees were too close to go through, leaving them only one path through the entire forest. The occasional rustle caused most of them to jump every once in a while, but Tempest never even flinched. After all, there was no reason for her to doubt her ability to fight any creature.
Then Sonata saw something. A gap that was slightly larger than the others. She kept her eyes on it until the three ponies moved away from her, then stopped for a second. Floating just above the ground meant that none of them noticed when she stopped following her. She peered through the gap.
A giant eye was staring back at her.
"AAAAHHHH!"
That got the attention of the others. Sonata moved away from the gap as several black vines came through.
"RUN!"
Sonata immediately took off after the ponies, who were suddenly in a much better position than she was. While they had a couple of yards on the approaching vines, she was inches away from them.
Sunset looked over her shoulder at Sonata. "Tempest! Can't you do something?"
"She can fight creatures! Not Eldrich Abominations!"
"I'm not about to kick that thing!"
Sonata was moving fast, but the vines were faster. She looked back at the impending doom about to consume her. She nearly missed a turn in the path, causing her to slow for a brief moment. That was enough for one of the vines to start wrapping around her tail.
A large blast came out of nowhere. It sent Sonata spinning forward for a moment, but also forced the vines back a bit.
"Sunset! Just run!"
Sonata flopped to the ground. By the time she opened her eyes, Sunset had grabbed her by the tail and was running, dragging Sonata along the ground. Moments after she started getting dragged, Sonata lifted herself off the ground and pulled her tail out of Sunset's mouth.
"Thanks!"
"Don't thank me yet!"
The two ran side by side, well behind the other two. The vines were right behind them. Then the trees in front of them started falling. Sonata grabbed Sunset by the stomach and started weaving through the falling trees wherever she could fit through.
But the vines were getting closer, unimpeded by the foliage. Starlight and Tempest ran into a well-lit clearing. Before the other two could get there, several trees collapsed, creating a wall between the two in the light and the two that were running.
Sonata flew up, grazing her back on the thick foliage above her, and barely managed to get over the wall. When she dropped back down, however, she ended up rolling on the ground, releasing Sunset.
The vines moved towards them, only to reel back at the light as if burnt. The eye appeared again, then let out a roar.
The four girls were out of its range.