//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Spiral Swirl's Encounter // by Juke Denton //------------------------------// As she was trotting along the denser portion of the woods, Spiral used her magic to levitate her binoculars and gaze at the different nests in the upper branches. Finding a good place to observe from afar, the teal pony sat on her haunches and simply observed the various types of birds living in their habitat. Soon enough, the sounds of chirping filled the air and Spiral enjoyed the serene view of different birds flying out and about from their homes up in the trees. After about ten minutes of bird-watching, the unicorn was about to move to another part of the woods until a screeching sound caught her attention and looked wide-eyed at what she saw. Lying on the ground was a small, blue bird flickering its wings hard and looking like it was trying to fly back in the branches, but wasn’t strong enough to stay in the air. Taking pity on the little, blue bird, Spiral thought to herself, ‘I should go help that poor bird.’ Not wanting to scare it, the mare quietly went over to the bird, with the small, blue-feathered, nestling trying in vain to fly away from the approaching pony. With no way to use its wings, the bird could only cower at the base of the tree and wait for whatever fate had in store. The unicorn nearly wept at the sight of the scared baby bird and bend down so as to not frightened it and said in an almost whisper tone, “Shh…shh…it’s okay. I’m not here to hurt you. I only want to help.” The blue nestling looked up at the teal unicorn and while not being able to understand what the pony was saying, did see that she didn’t mean any harm. But that didn’t mean the bird trusted the mare as it still tried to move further back against the tree’s base. Spiral could see that the nestling wasn’t convinced about her wanting to help it, yet. Under normal circumstances, the mare would’ve used her Hypno Magic to help calm the bird down, but since it was just a baby, she wanted to gain its trust naturally without having to resort to using her pocket watch. “I know how terrified you are. But please, if you’ll just let me help you, I promise to not hurt you in any way.” The bird’s uneasiness seemed to die down from the calm manner the pony gave and simply looked at the unicorn with curious eyes and a few questioning chirps. ‘It’s times like these where I wish I had some birdfeed on hoof.’ Spiral thought to herself. She put aside the thought and spoke once more to the nestling. “All I want to do is help you find your family again. I swear on my pocket watch that I won’t do anything that will harm you in any way.” Hearing the sincerity of how the unicorn spoke, the little bird decided that the creature in front of it was trustworthy enough and gave the pony a chirp to signify its consent. Giving the bird a warm smile, Spiral was about to extend one of her forehoofs forward until she realized that the bird might react out of fear again. She then got an idea and said to the bird, “Ok, what’s about to happen next might shock you, but I need you to trust me.” Before the bird was about to do anything else, it was suddenly lifted off the ground and had no control of what was happening as the unicorn activated her magic. Being as gently as she could, Spiral lift the bird towards her and slowly lowered the baby right on top of her mane. When the bird was freed from the unicorn’s magical grip, it was surprisingly calm from the way Spiral handled it with her magic and from the soft comfort the pony’s mane provided. The bird then adjusted itself on top of the pony’s head by nestling in the mane like it was home, which earned a chuckle from Spiral. ‘Now I really wish I had some birdfeed.’ The mare said to herself in her head. She then looked up at the trees surrounding her and said aloud, “Hmm…I wonder which nest you came from little one.” Spiral began going from tree to tree to see which nest the little bird belonged in. The blue bird all the while had settled itself further in the pony’s mane and took a nap. Studying all the bird habitats around her, the mare couldn’t find any matches for the blue bird. Some time later, Spiral was beginning to get discouraged when she saw an older looking bird that had a similar shade of blue to the baby bird flying about around its nest as if on the lookout. ‘This must be the nest.’ The mare assumed, hoping it was the right one. Activating her magic, the unicorn very carefully levitated the sleeping form of the baby blue bird from her mane to the nest in the tree. While it was being held in the pony’s magical grip, the little bird awoke and started to chirp loudly, gaining the older bird’s attention. The adult bird landed on its nest and waited until the little nestling was released from Spiral’s magic before rushing towards it and showing affection. ‘Yep. Definitely the nest.’ The two birds let off a tune of happy chirps with another joining in as well. Spiral then noticed, coming from the bird’s home, another blue nestling around the same size as the one she found earlier. The unicorn’s heart melted at the sight of them showing affection for each other in a sibling like way. Spiral continued to watch the happy little reunion, until she realized that she needed to get back to Maddie and Joey before the day escaped them. The mare was about to make her way back to the children, until she realized she didn’t even know which part of the woods she was in. “Okay, let’s see here.” Spiral said out loud to no one in particular and scanning for the direction she came from. “I must’ve come from that way, so that must be where the pond is.” She went at a normal walk pace, navigating through the deep woods while deep in thought. ‘Maybe it was a bad idea to wander too far from the children. But I’m sure I’ll find my way back to them soon enough.’ Minutes passed by and Spiral was still traversing through the forest in the same direction until something occurred to her. ‘Hold on! Did I make a turn when I was making my way to the nests? I must have. Well, par for the course.’ She began to head off in a different direction hoping to lead her to her destination, but after another minute of wandering, she realized something. ‘But wait! I passed by a big, red leaf, tree about halfway to the mother’s bird nest so this is certainly not the way I came. I should probably head back to the blue bird’s nest and start over.’ What the unicorn thought would take a couple minutes to return to the nest only proved to be a fruitless endeavor as time went by. The pony’s heart started to race from the stress of the situation. “Okay. Okay. Calm yourself down. I’m sure there’s a good reason as to why I’m off course. I just need to…to…” She looked around with no real plan in mind and just pointed a hoof in a random direction, before finishing her sentence with, “…to travel in that direction!” As more time went by, it became apparent to the pony hypnotist that she was very lost and couldn’t find her way out. “Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.” The mare said to herself in a panic as fear began to take hold of her. She ran even faster through the woods as quick as her legs could carry her as her mind began to play tricks on her. Images of her earlier encounter with the vicious geese sprang into her head, adding to her anxiety attack. Illusions of the children appeared as well, but instead of bringing the unicorn comfort, they were berating her for lying to them about the “post-hypnotic amnesia” and merely using them as play puppets. Spiral closed her eyes to try and block out the imagery, only to trip over a branch and roll over with a *THUD* with her side hitting a tree base. The poor pony couldn’t take it anymore and began to let out tears of regret as she made a solemn vow that if she ever got out of the woods, she would make amends to the children and tell them the truth. Just as she was about to collapse from despair, Spiral heard a chirping sound coming from nearby, as she looked up and was in shock to see the same nest she brought the blue baby bird to. The mare quickly gathered her bearings, brushed herself off, and stood up straight to see the mother flying around in a circle until she flew in front of the mare, catching Spiral off guard for a moment. When Spiral recovered, the bird chirped a couple times as if trying to speak, but all it did was leave a questioning look from the unicorn. The bird then ascended a few feet higher and started to fly about in circles near where Spiral was standing. Getting curious, the pony took a few steps towards the bird, with the bird itself circling a bit further away. ‘Does she want me to follow her? Well I guess there’s only one way to find out.’ Spiral put her trust in the bird above, and began to move in the direction the bird was heading. After a good distance, the bird then changed patterns and flew ahead in one straight path with Spiral doing her best to keep up. Sometime later, Spiral could see a speck of light in the distance and hurried her running pace. When she broke through some foliage blocking the light, she let out a cry of joy as the sight of the pond and the sleeping forms of Maddie and Joey nearly brought her to tears again. Spiral was about to literally kiss the ground, when the sound of the blue bird caught her attention and took notice of how it landed right near her. The unicorn saw that the mother bird was collecting worms from the dirt and guessed that it was gathering food for the family. When it was done on the ground, the bird flew back up to Spiral’s eye level and chirped a few times. Spiral smiled sincerely back and said, “Thank you. Thank you for your help.” The mother bird chirped a couple more times, before taking to the sky and leaving the unicorn alone with the sleeping children. The mare then went over to the hypnotized children and was about to wake Maddie when she thought back to the promise she made to herself earlier on. ‘How am I to tell them about my original intentions without breaking my trust with them? Should I just wake them up now and tell them that I originally just wanted to brainwash them when I first saw them? That might not be the best idea, especially since Maddie wants to introduce me to her friend later today. I could just make them accept whatever I tell them as a post-hypnotic suggestion and-NO! I want to come clean with them, not continue to sweep it under the rug!” The frustrated Spiral took in a deep breath and let it out slow to compose herself. She then sat herself down on her haunches and proceeded to think things through more calmly. ‘Okay, from the top. What’s the best scenario to tell Maddie and Joey the truth about my deception?’